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Canadian Institute for Historical Microraproductions / Institut Canadian da microraproductions historiquaa
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THE FIRST BISHOP OF TORONTO :
A KEVIRW AN1> A STUDY
BY
IIKNIJY SCADDLXC, |>.l>., i'axtaij.
T 0 R 0 N T 0
\V, C CJIKWETT A Co. FvlXCi STF EKT KAST.
I s r, 8 .
I I
THE FIRST BISHOP OF TORONTO
A REVIEW AND A STUDY.
BY
HENRY SCABBING, D.D., Cantab.
TORONTO:
AV. C. CHEWETT A CO., KING STREET EAST.
1868.
tl
VltlXTEI) AT Tin: STEAM PRESS KSTAnLISHMENT OF W. C. CIIEWKTT & CO.,
RING STREET EAST, TORONTO.
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
INSCRIBED
WITH REAL HESPECT
TO
TITE RIGHT REV. ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE, D.D.,
BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK,
WHO, IN Hia "CRITERION," HAS MARKED OUT AFRESH.
SHARPLY AND FIRMLY,
FOR THE EXISTING GENERATION,
THE LINE WHICH, WITH THE WELL-INSTRUCTED AND DISCERNING,
DIVIDES TRUTH FROM ERROR IN ECCLESIASTICAL QUESTIONS ;
WHO, IN THE ACCOMPANYING PORTRAITURE,
WILL RECOGNIZE ONE THAT, AGAIN AND AGAIN,
FOR THE PEOPLE COMMITTED TO HIS SPIRITUAL OVERSIGHT,
VIRTUALLY PERFORMED THE SAME OFFICE,
ILLUSTRATING HIS WORDS OF WISE COUNSEL
BY THE CONSISTENT PRACTICE OF A LONG LIFE,
AND (LIKE A DELANCEY, LAMENTED AND BELOVED
«)N BOTH SIDES OF THE UPPER WATERS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE)
PROVING HIMSELF TO BE ONE OF THE NOT MJNV 7ATIIEHS
WHOM CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES ARE PERMITTED TO II.WE,
AND WHOSE MEMORY THEY HAVE LEARNED TO HOLD
IN ESPECIAL HONOUR.
2369740
)
PREFACE.
Having been plij'sically unable at the time of tbe decease
of the late venerated Bishop of Toronto to do honour to his
ineuiory in my place, and in the usual way, I have ventured
to throw such thoughts as have occurred to me in connexion
with that event into the shape of a historical Eeview and
Study, which I here present to the reader in independent
pamphlet form, there being amongst us no Periodical suited
to receive papers of this description.
II. S.
10 Tkinity Square, Toronto,
Jan. 28, 1868.
Si
w
I
TABLE OF PRINCIPAL MASTERS.
PAOK
Arrival at Kingston 18
Removal to Cornwall 15
Theological system adopted 17
School system pursued 21
Removal to York 20
Ecclesiastical lands in Canada, history of 2i(
Educational question in Canada, history of 4ft
Visit to England for University Charter 4S
Visit to England for Consecration 52
Institution of Diocesan Society DJl
Building and rebuilding the Cathedrtn Church 55
Visit to England on extinction of King's College 56
Founding of Trinity College 57
Institution of a Representative Synod 01
Charges and printed Remains 70
Results S3
¥
'I .«
THE FIUST BISHOP OF TOEOIJTTO.
A REVIEW AND A STUDY.*
Modern liistorians have discovered the utility of the chance
literature of particular periods. The freshness and life which
constitute the charm of Macaulay and Froude, as distinguished
from their predecessors, arise in a great degree from their not
having disdained the pamphlets and popular literature, the
autobiographies, diaries, private correspondence and floating
discourse of the times in which their heroes and heroines lived.
The graphic touches which reader so fascinating their word-
portraitures of "William and Mary, for example, of Mary Tudor,
Mary Stuart, and of Elizabetii, with the dramatis personse
attendant upon each, have been derived from sources such as
these.
In the United States, the fugitive productions, political and
literary, of the Colonial period, are eagerly sought after as
materials for history ; and, in many cases, have been reprinted
under the auspices of societies expressly foimed for the preser-
vation of such papers. Almost every State and large town
has a collection of local documents, possessing at once a sort of
family interest, and occasionally considerable importance in
relation to public affairs. The vast chaos of printed matter
every year accumulating in London, from the sale and disper-
sion of libraries in England, Scotland and Ireland, is annually
ransacked for American pamphlets, which are set apart by
dealers in books as having a spec .il value for the United States
market.
In Canada a similar minute interest in the past is felt. It
•Chrutian Riearder, Vols. 1. & II. Svo. York ; Printed at the U. C. OazetU Office ; 1819, 1820.
10
1*
!'
has been long strongly manifest among the educated Lower
Canadian French. It has extended itself to the descendants
of other nationalities. In both divisions of the late Province
of Canada, Historical Societies have been instituted. The
Government of Canada has authorized from time to time the
collection of historical documents in Great Britain and on the
continent of Europe, and the results in manuscript and other-
wise are preserved for the use of persons interested in such
matters, in the parliamentary libraries at Ottawa, Quebec and
Toronto.
In the Eastern division of Canada the local materials for the
historian are more abundant than in the Western. Tracts,
magazines and ne vspapers have all along there been preserved
with some care and interest. In AVestern Canada, when wish-
ing to verify a fact or a date, it is curious to discover how all
but impossible it is to find files of the Papers of thirty or forty
years since, or sets of the periodicals that from time to time
have had a brief existence. It is thus by no moans easy to
recover minute particulars in relation to events, discussions
and persons, that at particular times made a considerable
noise. The difliculty is, in some instances, perhaps a happy
one. But for the future, the existence of libraries, public and
private, where the productions of the local press are deposited
and valued, will render impossible a deartli of historical data.
We are so fortunate as to have at hand a collection of early
Canadian works ; and among them, a copy of The Christian
Recorder^ a magazine printed partly at Kingston and partly at
York, in 1819 and 1820. The numbers issued at Kingston
were printed at the Chronicle oftice, by S. Miles ; those appear-
ing at York were printed at the Upper Canada Gazette ofiice,
'' for the Editor and R. C. Home." After two years, the peri-
odical ceased to exist. The volumes consist respectively of 482
and 448 pages. The size is large octavo ; the type is a bold
]>ica, the lines running across the whole page ; the paper
is stout, and the ink remarkably good. At the end of each
number, a portion of the matter is in double columns, and in
smaller type.
These volumes possess an interest, a? having been edited and
in great part written by the late Bishop of Toronto, while .a
11
presbyter doing duty at York. They treat of matters con-
nected principally with the Anglican Church in Great Britain
and Ireland and Ca^^ada, and other dependencies of the
Empire.
Had the Christian Recorder chanced to have been a general
magazine, like the old standard periodicals of the last century,
the value of the work would have been greater as a source of
minute information, in relation to the civil and domestic history
of Canada during the brief term of its existence. As it is,
the work is chiefly to be prized as furnishing an insight into
the early opinions and views of one who became locally very
eminent. It will be of some public interest, probably, to
mention that heavy mourning lines surround all the pages of
the number for September, 1819, out of respect to the memory
of the Governor-in-Chief, the Duke of Richmond, then recently
deceased. In the same number is a funeral oration on the
occasion of the death of that personage. The number for
March, 1820, is draped in like manner for George III., and
contfuns also a funeral oration on the death of that monarch.
In the iirst volume there is a memoir of the Indian chief,
Jose])h Brant; and in the second volume, a discourse by
Samuel Farmer Jarvis, on the Religion of the Indians of North
America, delivered before the New York Historical Society.
There are papers also on the History and State of Education
in Upper and Lower Canada.
We intend to make our notice of this early production of the
Upper Canadian press the occasion of a rapid review of the
public life and times of the first Bishop of Toronto, delineating
his career and recording its results with as much brevity as
shall be possible. The history of Dr. Strachan will hereafter
form a portion of the history of Canada in general, and of the
Anglican Church in Canada in particular. Meanwhile, a
review of the kind we have proposed will not be unacceptable
to tlie reader of to-day, who, while absorbed, along with his
contemporaries, in things of immediate moment, is apt to
remain ignorant of matters that stirred the iiearts of the gene-
ration passing away, however necessary, in some instances, a
knowledge of those matters may be to a right understanding
of the existing situation of affairs.
^
I
12
The question of Public Eclucation in Upper Canad.a was the
remote occasion of Mr. Strachan's emigration from Scotland.
Among the wealthier families of Western Canada, the
necessity began soon to be felt of securing for their growing
sons the intellectual and moral training customary in old
countries. In the polity designed for the recently organized
Province of Upper Canada, a University was from the begin-
ning included. It was, of course, long before the means and
numbers of a young community justified the actual commence-
ment of such an institution ; but its existence in the future
was kept in view.
About tlie year 1 798 or 1799, certain families in Kingston
and the neighbourhood appear to have resolved on opening a
correspondence with friends in Scotland, with a view of obtain-
ing from them a tutor for their sons, alluding at the same time
to the wider and higher sphere which in due time might be
open to the per on sent out, so soon as the country should be
ripe for a High School or University.
The families referred to — Ilamiltons, Stuarts and Cart-
wrights — when casting about for the education of their sons,
appear to have looked towards Scotland rather than England,
partly perhaps from national predilection, and partly from a
reasonable impression that the economic and primitive Univer-
sity system of Scotland was better adapted to a community
constituted as that of Upper Canada then was, than the more
costly and more complicated systems of Oxford and Cambridge,
The first Governor of Upper Canada, in a letter to the
Bishop of Quebec in 1795, had given it as his opinion, that
" the clergy requisite for oflices in the University in the first
instance, should be Englishmen, if possible ; " which was also
the opinion, he adds, of Mr. Secretary Dundas. But at the
same timeJie cautiously refere to "the habits and mannere of
the American settlers;" and expresses his apprehensions in
respect to the adaptodness to the community of Upper Canada
of " clergymen educated in England, with English families and
propensities, habituated in every situation to a greater degree
of refinement and comfort than can be found in a new country,
or possibly anywhere without the precincts of Great Britain."
And in regard to the bishopric which he desired to see at once
fll
.
13
established at liis seat of Government, he had strongly recom-
mended the consecration f^^ « oi*esbyter long familiar with the
New England colonies, a Mr. Peters, as likely to bo more ac-
ceptable and nseful in a new community, than one wholly
unused to a population such as that of U])per Canada was ex-
pected to bo. In the case of Nova Scotia, a clergyman,
Dr. Inglis, trained in the colonial service, had already been
appointed bishop. In looking to Scotland, then, rather than to
England, for an instructor for their sons, the families at Kings-
ton, in 1709, may have been moved also by some of the general
convictions which were evidently strong in the mind of the
first Governor of Upper Canada.
The educational opening in Canada was duly made known
to several young Scottish scholars just starting in life. The
one, amongst them, that at length decided to accept, cuurage-
ously verituring to try his future in the distant and wholly new
field of action, was Mr. John Strachan, master at the time, of
the Parochial school of Kettle in the county of Fife, and of
the age of about nineteen years.
On the last day of the year 1799, he reached Kingston, hav-
ing sailed from Greenock at the close of the preceding August.
The work of private tuition was immediately begun. The
prospect of employment ia connection with a government
scheme of education, was found to be more remote than had
been imagined.
Public Instruction was to be maintained by the proceeds of
crown lands ; but these were as yet in a state of nature. Some
years must elapse before revenues could accrue from that quarter.
Notwithstanding a momentary disappointment, the resolution
was formed to test the new conditions into which his emigra-
tion had brought hiwi. It would naturally strike him that the
experienced friends by whom he was surrounded, had not
themselves decided, without good reasons, on identifying their
fortunes witli those of tlie newly organized community of
Upper Canada. He would not be long in discovering that
they had sketched out a future for themselves and their child-
ren. Tlie minute information gathered from them, would fur-
nish plentiful materials for decision in regard to his own case.
14
It is little to be wondered at, that at the time now spoken
of, Mr. Strachan, as a young man educated and trained in Scot-
land, did not consider himself, in any very strict sense, a nism-
ber of the Anglican communion. It appears that his parents
were of different pevsuasions. Ilis father belonged to the Non-
jnrants, that is, to the adherents of that succession of bishops
who continued to refuse the oaths of allegiance to the House of
Brunswick. Of these, Jacobites as they were termed politi-
cally, the stronghold in the Lowlands was Aberdeen, where Mr.
Strachan was born. His mother belonged to the Ilelief Kirk,
a communion resemblinj; the modern Free Kirk and based on
the rejection of lay-patronage. It is now merged in the United
Presbyterian body. He was familiarized in his childhood with
the Episcopal forms of worship, by frequently attending, in
company with his father, the ministrations of Bishop Skinner
of Aberdeen, the Primus of Scotland from 1789 to 1810 ; but
on being deprived of his father, while still quite young, he was
afterwards usually taken to the religious services preferred by
his mother. But while thus grounded in the principles of the
Christian faith, the historic question in relation to the Chris-
tian church had not, in any practical way, been brought before
him, up to the time of his emigration.
At Kingston he is brought into intimate relations with the
Rev. Dr. Stuart, who, although now the official representative
of the Anglican Church in that place and bishop's commissary
for Upper Canada, was himself the son of a Scottish presbyte-
rian. Dr. Stuart had migrated to Canada from Virginia, and
was one of the large group of persons who in the United States
and Canada have deemed it a duty for reasons satisfactory to
their intelligence, to leave the religious communion in which
they were born, and unite themselvoi, some as clergy, some as
laity, to the Anglican communion — a result promoted, inde-
pendently of the historic argument, by the fact that the offshoots
of the Anglican Chu»'ch in the dependencies of the Empire are
necessarily divested of the secular trappings which are urged as
grounds of separation in the mother-country.
Doubtless the influence of the Ilev. Dr. Stuart with the newly-
arrived young Scot, and probably his example also, had much
I 1
15
weight ; and we speedily find a resolution formed on the part
of Mr. Strachan to take orders in the Anglican Church.
After fulfilling a three years' engagement as preceptor at
Kingston, and going at the same time through a course of
theological reading, he is accordingly ordained in the year
1803, a deacon, and in the following year, a presbyter, in the
Anglican church, by Dr. Mountain, the then bishop of Quebec.
His mission was Cornwall ; but he continued to unite with
the clerical profession, the office likewise of an instructor of
youth in general learning.
We thus see him fairly started in the double 3areer, in both
lines of which he was afterwards to be conspicuous. In accor-
dance with a natural law, the strong aptitudes that were in
him had sought a place for development, and now in some
sort, an approximation to a such place was found. V'hile
there is in such cases of course no special forecast of the forms
in wliich the future is to be worked out, there is a powerful
consciousness of sure rewards in some sha])e for vigilance and a
strong will. Amonf; the earliest determiaations of the future
bishop, we liappen to know, thore was one to be found ever
with the foremost in whatevei profession he should adopt.
This amount of clear purpose at all events on his part, we
have learned from one to whom as an incentive to exertion in
his youth, the avowal was made by the bishop himself. — Ileed-
fully and successfully, tln'ough every phase of his eventful his-
tory—
" He heard the constant Voice its charge repeat
Which out of his young heart's oracular seat
First roused him."
Men bearing the good lowland name of Strachan, had already
been distinguished in ecclesiastical annals ; and they wore all
very staunch non-jurants. From 1062 to 1671, Dr. David
Strachan was bishop of Brechin. In 1G89, Dr. John Strachan
was deprived of the incumbency of the Tron church in Edin-
burgli, for not reading on the day appointed a proclamation
fi'om the Estates of Scotland " certifying the lieges that none
presume to own or acknowledge the late King James VII. for
their King, nor ol)oy, accept or assist any commissions or or-
sll
16
I,
I
■ t
ders that may be emitted by him ; and that none prcaume, upon
their highest peril, by word, writing, or sermons, or any other
manner of way, to impugn or disown the royal authority of
"William and Mary, King and Queen of Scotland." — Stephens's
IIiHtory of the Church of Scotland, ill. 4:08. And in IGOO, he
is deprived of his theological professorijhip in the l^niversity of
Edinburgh, for refusing the following test : " I, A. B., do in
the sincerity of my heart acknowledge and declare that their
majesties, William and Queen Mary are the only lawful and
undoubted sovereigns, Kii>g and (iucen of Scotland, as well
de jure as de facto, ^^ tfce. That the refusal of this test might ,
not be understood in any doubtful manner, the inquisitom
who administered it had taken the precaution to allege of the
tame Dr. John Strachan " that in a sermon before the diocesan
synud he reconmiended a reconciliation with the Church of
Home; that he was an Arminian, a Pelngiun, and innovated the
worship of God in setting up the English service,'' &c. Again,
in 1787, " the clergy of the bishopric of Brechin elected Dr.
Abernethy Drummond, one of the clergy of Edinburgh, to be
their bishop ; and at the same time they elected Mr, John
Strachan, ju'iest, at Dundee, to be his coadjutor in that bishop-
ric."— Stephen, iv. -111. This bishop Strachan, who survived
until 1810, consented, with the rest of his brethren, to read the
prayer for King George III., when the death of the Pretender
was announced. " Well do I remember," says an old Jacobite
of that time, " the day on which the name of George was men-
tioned in the morning service for the first time. Such blowing
of noses, such significant hums, such half-suppressed sighs, such
smothered gi'oans and universal confusion, can hardly be con-
ceived."— Stephen, iv. ■ili.
But of all who, in the ecclesiastical annals, have won honour
for the name of Strachan, it happened that there was no one
destined to higher distinction than he whom we have just seen
beginning a career in Canada, at the opening of the present
century. It was during Dr. Strachan's ten years' residence in
Cornwall, and his thirteen years' continuance in the same
united occupations subsequently at York, that many of the
young men of Canada, who became afterwards distinguished
!«
M
vt
in life, received under bis direction their early training. The
phalanx of warm friends who in later days stood so staunchly
by him, was recruited in great measure out of these grateful
pupils.
The theological view; o which, as a young student at King-
ston, he had been led, may be described in general terms as
those of the Bishop Ilobart school in the United States ; views
reflecting, in the main, the principles of the Scottish Episcopal
Church. Among English divines, Bishop Jeremy Taylor per-
haps (provided the Liberty of Prophesying be not excluded)
may be tajcen as an exponent of them. But in no portion of
his teaching, tliroughout the whole of his career, is there any
tid.ce of Leaderism, that bane of theology, which renders the
voice of every modern school more or less hollow and unreal.
In the great Oxford movement, he instantly discerned the gold
from the dross, the truthful from the fantastic. Newman,
whom he had personally known, was, on his defection, to him
" as a stone cast into the sea " — to use an expression of his own
in relation to that occuiTence.
The general contents of the Christian liecorder are an index
to the topics that had engaged the mind of its editor. In vol.
I. we have discussions on Amusements of the Clergy ; British
Islands, first introduction of Gospel into ; History and present
state of Religion in Canada; "Catholic" wrongly used; on
the Uses of Learning in Religion; a Series, entitled, "The
Confessor," in which difficulties are proposed by correspon-
dents and solved ; Family Worship ; Dr. Chalmers on Uuiver-
sal Peace ; Bible and Prayer-Book Society ; History of Bene-
volent Societies ; on Forms of Prayer, &c. In vol. II., Laud's
Speech on the Scaffold ; Infant Baptism ; Analysis of Bishop
Bull's Sermons; Writings of the Fathers; on Groaning in
Churches ; Ilorsley on the Sabbath ; Southey's Life of Wesley ';
Moral Philosophy and Christian Revelation ; Duties of Parish
Priest ; Last hours of Melancthon ; Regeneration ; Religious
Establishments ; Waterland's Sermons ; Barrow's Sermons ;
Frequent Communion, &c.
The passages which we are about to give at length are selected
as being illustrative of the opinions held by the editor on the
2
n
V
^h \
■^',1
18
enbject of tlie Anglican Church in tlio year 1820. Quails db
incepto the reader of to-day will be inclined to append to the
well-kr>own Caveo sed non timeo — " Fearlesa but Prudent" — of
his soul, a legend never borne with greater fitness by any pos-
sessor of his name.
" It is from not attending to the relation of the several dis-
pensations of religion to each other, and to the sense of the
phrases which have been brought from the synagogue into the
Church, that we are now disturbed by useless if not pernicious
controversies concerning original sin, regeneration, conversion,
election, justification and the perseverance of the saints ; and
until the disputants shall agree to trace the great progressive
scheme of revelation from its commencement, it will be impos-
sible to put an end to these controversies." — Vol. ii. 410.
" The sectaries of former times and of the present day are
astonished and indignant that our English Reformers did not
see the Truth immediately as they see it now, and they lament
they ultimately stopped short of the point which they have
attained, and that they have retained any portion, however
purified, of the ancient system. Now, we consider the gradual
progress of the Reformation in England, as a fact of the utmost
j)ossible importance to the Church of Christ at large. Nothing
was done rashly; not a step was taken without suflicient
grounds; and the progress of change so natural to the human
mind in such circumstances, and so unlimited and momentous
in its possible conserpiences, was hai)pily checked at that point
which has rendered the Church of England the bulwark of the
Reformation, as opposed to the superstitions of Rome on the
one hand, and to the heresies of many reformed churches and
sects on the other ; a point so happily fixed, both as to faith
and discipline, as to render it ultimately perhaps a rallying
ground to those who now on either side most vigorously assail
it."— Vol. ii. 412.
At page 82 of the same volume is a striking reference to the
Scottish Episcopal Church, showing the deep impression which
a study of its case and position had made. " It is a matter of
surprise," he says, "to those who are acquainted with the
purity and simplicity of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, and
10
ualis cih
d to the
mt"— of
any pos-
'oral dis-
!e of the
into the
3rniciou8
1 version,
its ; and
jffressive
e inipos-
10.
; day are
s did not
y lament
ley have
however
5 gradual
e utmost
Nothing
sufficient
e human
mientous
lat point
rk ot the
e on the
ehcs and
to faith
rallying
sly assail
ice to the
on which
matter of
with the
land, and
the many intrepid examples of patience, of perseverance and
piety which she has exhibited, that more notice is not taken ot
her in the religious publications of the day, and that while the
obscurest of sects are held up to public attention, and very
ordinary characters dragged from their privacy and decked
with the trappings of a partial biography and held up to admi-
ration, the primitive models of Christian simplicity, self-denial
and devotion afforded by this branch of the Catholic Church,
are passed over without notice or regard. * * * It is of
great importance to the cause of Episcopacy to behold a society
of well-informed Christians adhering to its principles, under
circumatauces peculiarly disadvantageous, from a deep convic-
tion of their truth. Such a spectacle puts to confusion the
assertions of those who have said that this mode of Christian
worship could not exist separate from pomp and power, and
manifestly proves that, without external dignity, splendor < r
even protection, it preserves bey end all others its primitive
purity, and continues from age to age, without any var'-^^inn.
to keep its adherents fixed in the truth as it was delivered to
the saints. In such a state of things, the clergy can have no
secular views in entering into its ministry; for their salaries
are by no means adequate to their comfortable subsistence : it
can therefore only be a desire to be useful, proceeding from the
most disinterested motives, that could induce men of learning
and talents to devote themselves in such a church to the service
of the sanctuary. Let those who pretend that the sister church
established in England, so interesting to its friends and so im-
portant to the constitution, derives her chief support from her
connexion with the state, her legal support, her dignity and
splendour ; look to Scotland, where the same church, deprived
of all those advantages, maintains in everything the same
principles, and is held together by the force of opinion, and
preserved, though in a state of humiliation, by a strong and
imiform consent in the doctrine and discipline of the primitive
Church. In the Episcopal Church of Scotland we behold that
of England divested of everything foreign and adventitious,
as a society entirely spiritual, and yet maintaining the same
constitution, the same worship, faith and discipline, not by
I ill
i!
! i
h
! t
20
tlio sanction of laws, statutes and acts of parliament, but by
motives of conscience, and by sanctions which arc considered
as divine."
In the Farewell Address to the reader in Vol. II., are some
very characteristic passages. Their tone, it will bo observed,
combining charity and dogma, was calculated to impress if not
to conciliate. " The Christfan Recorder has treated with kind-
ness and respect all denominations of Christians ; but in doing
this, the editor has neither compromised nor concealed his own
opinions on any subject he was called upon to discuss ; and if
he has occasionally indulged in encomiums of that Church to
which he belongs and to which he is firmly attached by reason
and affection, it arises from a deep conviction that she is the only
Church that unites in herselfthe true requisites for propagating
the Gospel and retaining it pure when once established. * * *
Wherever any feeling prevails against the Church of England
it proceeds from ignorance ; for were the most violent of her
opponents to examine with impartiality her Articles of Faith,
her order and discipline, and to read with candour her admir-
able liturgy, — if he did not feel himself constrained to join
her communion, he would be at least convinced that she i)oss-
esses all the mar';s of a true Church, and that to be conscien-
tiously united with her, is to be in the way of salvation. In
most places of worship out of this Church the congregations
are hearers only; the members of them, properly speaking,
cannot be said to offer up any religious worship for themselves.
The one mind and the one mouth with which Christians are
directed by the Apostle to glorify God being in this case,
generally speaking, the mind and mouth of the officiating
minister, not, as it ought to be, the one mind and one mouth of
the congregation assembled."
At p. 355, Vol. I., there is a characteristic remark on the
policy of "Wesley. Wesley had admonished some of his fol-
lowers at Brentford that from the hour they took up a position
antagonistic to the mother-church " they would see his face no
more." " It ia to be remembered," the editor of the Christian
Recorder remarks, " that though he resisted in this particular
instance and though he said the practice was inexpedient, and
I
21
li to
* * *
}OUth of
even unlawful, ho w(\3 yet constrained to yield when the con-
gregation proved obstinate. Ilia consummate skill in govern-
ment told him how far he might go ; and when courage and
decision M'oidd no longer avail he always secured a safe
retreat."
The system pursued in the School at Cornwall, and after-
wards at York, exhibited features that would have gratified the
advanced educationists of the present age. In that system the
practical and the useful were by no means sacrificed to the
ornamental and theoretical or the merely conventional. Things
were regarded as well as words. In respect to the latter, we
have taken the trouble to look lately into our copy of Ruddi-
num's Kudiments of the Latin Tongue. It is a relic of youth-
ful days, bearing the marks of our own devotion to its contents
which -yet occupying a seat on the benches of the School at
York; and wo aro glad to acknowledge what a good and
sensible book of its kind it is: superior in a rational point of
view to the Eton manual, unannotated and unimproved, which
afterwards took its place. Through tho medium of this
Kuddiman we received our first initiation into the Latin tongue,
giving to vowels and diphthongs a fine North British breadth
and <le])th, unconsciously reproducing tones and sounds
familiar probably to lilui'tian or Oscan of old —
" Mouthing out hollow oes ami uis —
Deep-chested music."
Well do we remember the day of our enrolment ; and hearing
on that occasion one, afterwards a friend during manv vcars,
but now departed, repeating with great earnestness to himself
again and again some mystic statement ahontjilia, nata, dea,
anuna, making ahis in the plural. Then in regard to things
— the science of common objects — we doubt if in the most
conn)lete of our modern schools there was ever awakened a
greater interest or intelligence in relation to such matters.
Who that had once participated in the excitement of the
Natural History class, ever forgot it ? Or in that of the
Historical and Geographical exercises ? We venture to think
that in many an instance, the fullest experiences of after life
in travel or otherwise had often their associations with ideas
MiUWi It ', S
-■sbshbb;
nt'
4i!J
h
il
r^
Si
": I'
22
awakened then ; and often compared, satisfactorily and pleasur-
ably, with the pictures of places, animals and persons given
rudely it may be, but effectively, in text-books, ransacked and
oonncd in a fervour of emulation, then. The manner of study
in these subjects was this : each lad w.as required to prepare a
set of questions, to be put by himself to his fellows in the class.
If a reply was not forthcoming, and the information furnished
by Hie questioner was judged correct, the latter "went np,'*
and took the place of the other. This process, besides being
instructive and stimulating to the pupils, possessed the advan-
tage of being, as it often proved, highly diverting to the teacher.
Ill an address delivered by the editor of the Christian Recorder
at a distribution of rewards in his Sunday school, wo have a
similar process recommended for adoption in institutions of that
description. We give first his remarks on the advantages of the
catechetical system : " The method of instruction by question
and answer possesses many advantages over any other, and is
not only the shortest .and simplest, but the most satisfactory.
In preaching, for example, the speaker proceeds with liis dis-
course without the certainty that he is followed by his audience ;
but in catechising, the deficiencies of eacii scholar soon become
manifest, and the teacher knows to what particular points he
must direct his explanations. There is no time for inattention
or wandering ; the question and necessity of reply, compel
attention and recollection. The children, if the teacher pro-
ceed with a conciliatory firmness, acquire a lively interest in
the lesson, for each is particularly addressed and brought for-
ward into action." — Vol. i. p. 182.
We next give the editoi''s method in the management of his
Sunday school, with a vigorous sketch, which, changing the
scene, describes equally well his pupils engaged on secular sub-
jects. " The boys' class" the editor says, " have four questions
to answer in writing every Sunday morning. Aftei liie names
of the class are called, and those absent marked, each produces
his paper of questions. The answers are carefully examined,
and Hkewise the writing and spelling, and the best goes to the
head of the class, and all take their places according to their
merit. Permission is then given to ask questions formed out
23
of the four questions which they have ah'eady answered on
paper, or out of subjects connected with them. Questions may
likewise be asked about the sermon, the te\t, the lessons and
gospel of the day, the collect, and every pi,rt of the preceding
service. Now begins the anxiety, the mental exertion, tiiC
continued attention, the rapidity of answer, and acnteness of
distinction : but it is imnossible to describe the full effect of
such an examination without beholding it." — Ibid. p. 183.
Then there were the ever-memorable " Parliamentary
debates." The leading speeches of tlie great statesmen of
England on special questi(ms were learned, and delivei*ed
memoriter in proper order. Both sides in the discussion of
interesting subjects in politics became tiius to some extent
ftimiliar. The speakers on the occasion of '' debates" were
seated on benches set out for the purpose opposite to each other.
It was with scenes such as these that the first mention of the
historic names of Pih;, Fox, PuHenoy, Wyndham, Lyttelton,
"Walpole (Sir Robert and Horace) was associated in the minds
of many of the public men of Tipper Canada. These debates,
too, formed a part of the grand demonstration on prize-days,
before t!iG summer-vacation. A drama, generally one of Han-
nah More's, used also to be given on those daj's. Xot a little
were we ourselves elated at being assigned, on one of these
occasions, a part in Milman's Martyr of Antioe/i — at the time
a recent publication.
In recording these personal reminiscences here, we depart a
little from our plan. But having referred to them, we venture
to add one or two more of a kindred nature. A vivid recollec-
tion still exists of the salutary awe inspired by the approach
even at a distance, of the never-to-be-fogotten head-master. In
our time it was the practice of the assistant master, Rosington
Elms, or whoever else it might be, to open the school at nine.
Tiien at ab'^ut ten a look-out was established in a south westerly
direction towards a certain corner in the distance, round which in
his daily walk from his residence on Front Street the well-known
figure of the master would appear, distinguished then, as for
nearly half a century later, by the antique ecclesiastical cos-
tume of a past age. A sign would make known the expecte<'.
24
ii I'
^r
Hi
'111
1
M i
apparition, when a hushed silence would pervade the building,
growing in intensity as he himself entered, and continuing un-
broken so long as it pleased him to pace the apartment, toying
with the gold seals attached to his watch, and indulging in a
subdued, continuous whistle, for which he was noted else-
where also, which seemed to keep time with the motion of some
busy thought going on within.
To the close of his long life his great interest in children never
flagged. lie never let slip an opportunity of having something
to say to young people. It v/as a delight to him to draw them
out in some way by a little Soci atic chat. Nor in this respect
did he confine himself to the young. Character was quickly
discerned and enjoyed by him in persons of every ago. The
originals, male and female, of most of our western towns and
villages, and of many an isolated farm-house and country -stop-
ping place, were curiously known to him, and remembered by
some noted anecdote or saying of theire. And many a one
among such as were thus remembered, in their turn remembered
hnn also by virtue of some passage of spriglitly talk that had
happened between them. — After a somewliat cognate sort, a
great dog presenting himself anywhere would attract his good-
humoured regard ; while with visitors to his library in later
years, the cat that was usually to be seen coiled on a com-
fortable fauteuil there, will be as memorable and as suggestive
perhaps as Mon*' .ignc's.
Dr. Fuller, in some reminiscences in the Journal of Educa-
tion (vol. XX. p. 182), speaks of the regret of the scliool on the
resignation of their distinguished master — an occasion which
we ourselves also remember. In his testimony to the impar-
tiality of the regime then closed, the venerable archdeacon does
not hesitate to renew the infandum dolorem of his own experi^
ence. " All knew," lie says, " that we would receive jierfect
justice at his hands; that if we deserved credit and rewards, we
would obtain them ; and that if we deserved punishment, we
would be pretty certain to get it, too."
To the judges and other magnates, all quondam pupils of
his, assembled to partake of a dinner given them by him on
their presenting to him a costly token of their esteem, the sud-
25
he building,
itinuing un-
fient, toying
ulsing in a
noted else-
tion of some
ildren never
g something
0 draw thera
this respect
was quickly
1 age. The
I towns and
ountry-stop-
embercd bv
many a one
remembered
tlk that had
nate sort, a
let his good-
iiry in later
on a com-
suggostive
of Educa-
ool on the
asion which
the im par-
deacon does
own experi.
eive i>erfect
rewards, we
shment, we
n pupils of
by him on
m, the sud-
den address, in the old well known familiar authoritative tone,
humorously was — " Boys, take your places ! " And in good
earnest to the last, many very mature men were regarded by
him as boys. A middle-aged divine, rather out in his theology,
would often be excused by the considerate observation, " He's
a young man : he will get right in time." It was moreover
amusing in public assemblies, to remark how venerable person-
ages, lay as well as clerical, bold enough in any other presence,
would cower under the rasp of a brief stricture from the chair.
His own peculiar history combined with his personal character,
secured for him this unquestioning kind of deference. Of course
no successor, without similar claims, will ever be in the exercise
of an authority as arbitrary as his at certain times seemed to be.
His demise, like i\\GMorte (T Arthur, was the dissolution of the
last link of a new with an old era — of the present with the
past — with an ecclesiastical past, at all events, which had begun
already to look quaint and antiquated, which in the future will
look heroic, perhaps mythic.
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
In connexion with what has been said of the encouragement
given in his educational system to a knowledge of things as
well as of words, we may add, that to the last he proved himself
one who did not desire to restrict the regards of the studious
man to narrow limits. To extreme old age he cxhil ited a keen
interest in all matters of inodorn invention and science. To
the setting in motion of enterprizes likely to give useful em-
ployment to large numbers, as also to the re-establishment of
Manufactories, when checked by sudden disaster, he was always
to be relied on for liberal material aid. His familiar form, full
of a vigorous activity, even when somewhat bowed with yeara,
was often to be seen venturing among the bewilderments of the
railway tracks, entering with zest into the movements of the
impatient yet tractible machines. Also when buildings on a
large scale where going on, or any other considerable engineer-
ing operation, he was at some time or another there among the
workmen. He had alv'a3S been in his day a general reader.
lu
!
m n
V
^ifii
; iii il
i|!!t \\
We remember once feeling ourselves carried back very far .by
being referred to the philosophic essays of Ilelvetius, as contain-
ing matter with which reading men might be supposed familiar.
In interviews with ourselves, frequent and favourite topics were
the matters discussed before the Canadian Institute, the meet-
ings of which, of late years, from the great distance of the
Rooms, he regretted his inability to attend. lie made it a
point, however, even at a late period of liis life, to sliow him-
self occasionally at public meetings relating to the general
interests of the community, claiming to be heard " as an old
residenter."
From sojne remarks of his in the Christian J?ecorder, on a
scheme for a University course, we find that he desired the
young student in theology to be a lover of general knowledge.
" In a large seminary," he says, " these [that is, purely tlieo-
logical studios] may be relieved by turning to ^lie book of
nature, and reading the perfections of the Divinity in the
beauty and sublimity of His works. For these purposes the
young divine may examine the heavenly bodies, their astonish-
ing regularity and order ; and, admiring the perfection of
astronomy, which, in as far as it regards the solar system, may
now be said to be complete, as there is not a single motion that
has not been accounted for and found necessary to preserve the
wonderful harmony of the whole, he may draw the most com-
fortable proofs of the wisdom, power and goodness of God.
Here, likewise, the student of nature might make liiniself
master of chemistry, of botany and anatomy ; all of which he
would afterwards find useful in liis profession, not only in con-
firming liis faith, but in the variety of ilhistration which they
aflbrd him in preaching to the people." — Vol. i. p. 178.
On the death of Dr. Stuart, at Kingston, in 1S12, his son,
who had now also become a clergyman of the Church of
England, and was stationed at York, succeeded to his father's
ministerial charge ; and Dr. Strachan removed from Cornwall
to assume the post thus vacated. York was then a small
wooden town, of 1,400 inhabitants, by some years the junior
of Kingston. The latter place had sprung up round the
Btockado of Cataraqui (a fort begun in 1G72, in the time of the
27
J very far .by
IS, as contain-
osed familiar,
te topics were
ite, the meet-
itance of the
[e made it a
to show him-
I tlie general
d " as an old
Recorder, on a
e desired the
ill knowledge.
, purely theo-
) ^he book of
vinity in the
purposes the
^heir astonish-
perfection of
• system, may
e motion that
) preserve the
he most com-
Incss of God.
nake himself
1 of which he
t only in con-
ti which they
X 178.
hi 2, his son,
e Cliurch of
;o his father's
om Cornwall
then a small
rs the junior
p round the
e time of the
French rule), and at an earlier period had borne the naine of
the Governor-in-Chief, Fronton ac. York had been laid out in
1792, by Governor Simcoe, and had, like New York and
Albany, been so called from a Duke of York, — in the present
instance from the King's second son, actively engaged at the
moment as commander of the British troops on the European
continent, in the war against the French Convention.
In his new post an occasion soon occurred that brought out
several of the traits of character, which helped throughout his
life to render Dr. Strachan a man of mark
The measures of Napoleon, in 1S07, for the destruction of
the commerce of England, had occasioned, on the part of the
Britisli Privy Council, certain retaliatory orders, which affected
the shipping of maritime nations, and especially that of the
United States, who, consequently, in 1812, agreeably to the
subtle calculation of the Emperor, declared war against Great
Britain. Canada, although clear of culpability in the premises,
was doomed to the devastation and carufjge which, in this
peculiar mode of settling disputes, are inevitable. Moreover,
it was expected on the part of the United States, that the
struggle would issue in the loss to Great Britain of the residue
of her dominions in Northern America.
The invading force occupied the town of York, and set fire
to its public buildings. At this critical moment in the annals
of the infant capital, we find Dr. Strachan brought, alike by
his office and his personal character, into the exact position of
a leading ecclesiastic in one of the cities of Western Europe,
at the time of the irruption of the barbarians in the fifth cen-
tury, lie is put forward as a mouth-piece by the poorly
defended inhabitants, to plead with the exasperated chief of
the enemy in possession ; and to his vigorous remonstrances is
due the escape of York proper from complete destruction.
To the terrified families of the town and neighbourhood,
whoso natural guardians were for the most part absent on
military duty in various parts of the invaded Province, the
undaunted bearing of their chief spiritual pastor was a stay
and consolation. Amongst them, and in the hospitals by the
i!
r
i
ii
^
i \
n
ti
1 i
V" ■ i:
' f
!
i
i
1
i I
1^
1
- -^
1
!,
1
1
j
i
; 1
28
bedside of the sick and wounded, he was ever to be met witli,
addiniij words of hoiteful cheer to deeds of friendly kindliness,
althougli exposed, in the duties which he undertook, to immi-
nent p'jrsonal risk, from the irresponsibh; violcnco of stray sol-
diers Ji.nd sailors belonginp; to the forces of the hostile intruders.
In 1818 he was appointed by the Crown a member of the
Legislative Council of Upper Canada. Already, in Lower
Canada, the Anglican bishop was, from his otlice, a member of
the Upper House. As occupying, in the capital of the Upper
Province, the most conspicuous ecclesiastical position, he was
by a kind of analogy held eligible to a scat in the Legislative
Council. The api>ointment of a person in holy orders, under
the E[>ir-:copal rank, to such a position, would scarcely have
happened, had there not been a scarcity of men in the country
qualified to fill such a station. The discernment and deci,sion
of mind evinced by Dr. Strachan in regard to secular as well
as ecclesiastical mutters, stamped him as one that might be
thus distinguished by the Crown, Li England, to this day we
see men in holy orders sitting on the magistrate's bench. It is
a relic of the policy of by -gone ages, wIkmi ecclesiastics were
chosen to be keepers of the Great Seal, because they, beyond
the gciHM'ality of their contemporaries, were fitted for the office.
The jxtlicy of the present day, although it has not yet wholly
discarded the usage of the past in this resjxH-t, is in its tendency
opposed to, and will ultimately exclude such appointments, the
reason arising from the paucity of (pialified men outside the
ecclesiastical ranks, having hmg since been cancelled by facts.
Up to the time of the reunion of the Canailas, Dr. Strachan
took part in the legislation of the Upper Province. During a
portion of this period (1818-18+1), he was also an ICxecutivo
Councillor; and upon him, in this capacity, as a confidential
adviser of the Crown's representative for the time being, the
malcontents sought to fasten, justly or unjustly, the odium of
unpopular measures.
It was during this interval that the country was agitated by
the Ecclesiastical question ; and in addition to that source of
disquietude, and wrapped up to some extent in it, there was the
Educational question also, which, as the community had now
I
ig
1
be met with,
ly kindliness,
»ok, to ininii-
' of stray sol-
tile intruders,
ember of the
ly, in Lower
a member of
of the Upper
^ition, he was
\c Lej^islntivc
orders, under
scarcely have
n the country
and decifsion
3cular as well
hat mij^ht be
o this day we
i bench. It is
lesiastics were
they, beyond
for the office.
>t yet wholly
its tendency
ntnients, the
1 outside the
l(>d by facts.
Dr. Strachan
l)urin;i|; a
m Ivvccntive
(•((ulideiitial
lie being, the
he odium of
agitatod by
I at source of
here was the
ity had now
■i
29
extended itself, and was becoming more and more mixed in
character, excited much discussion.
As years rolled on, both questions assumed shapes that took
by sur^trise those persons who had failed to notice the great
social revolutions which liad long been in progress in the
British Islands ; or who, if they happened to be confronted by
the symptoms of such latent changes, had learned to denounce
them as wholly deplorable. But all those who had chanced to
read aright the lessons of modern English history, discerning,
60 tar as practicable, the providential drift of events, could
have had no doubt as to what the issue of the contest in both
cases would be, sooner or later.
In order that we may understand the Ecclesiastical and
Educational questions as they came to be regarded in the
Canadian Provinces, and as they were finally settled, it will bo
nseful to take a review of the origin of both of them.
After a retrospect of this kind, too, we shall be better able
to do justice to the champions on the losing as well as the
winning side in the contest. To judge fairly of the men of
by-gone generations, wo ought to place ourselves in their posi-
tion as nearly as p»j6sible, realizing their surroundings as fully
sis we nuiy ; analyzing the mental atmosphere which they
breathed, and the moral sunlight that fell on their spiritual
vision, noticing the mediums through which it had previously
passed, the refractions, diminutions and colorings which it had
conse(piently undergone. We should then probably discover
that our forefathers were logical, even when their calculations
proved vain : the fault was in the data which formed the
groundwork of their reasonings. It is not imj)robable that
even the present generation will be found to have erred in
some of its theoretical hopes. It is well to be reminded by
conspicuous examples that we are fallible men, even when
exercising the utmost shrewdness and circumspection. Let no
man pronounce rashly on the powers of forecast of his prede-
cessors, simply because his knowledge of the event enables him
to see that they were mistaken.
AVe shall glance first at the origin, progress and settlement
of the Canadian Ecclesiastical question.
I
M'l
x- ' \
■'! Ifl
30
On taking possession of her new domain on the continent
of North America, England found, in the parts that had been
to some extent reclaimed from the wilderness, a branch of the
Church of France established and endowed. Many of the
first colonists of these regions having been emigrants from
Normandy, Quebec was for a time held to be a trans-marine
outpost of the see of Rouen.
In the early Christian times, before the complications of the
Koman ecclesiastical system had been introduced, these outly-
ing districts of the Church of France would have been held to
pass, on the settlement after the conquest, into the area of the
English Church, and to come under the care of its spiritual
overseers. Large ecclesiastical districts have thus frequently
been transferred and retransferred from one jurisdiction tu
another, in the fluctuations of kingdoms and empires, it being
a principle in the early Christian organizution of governments,
that civil and ecclesiastical boundaries should coincide.
Hopes, visionary enough as they now seem to us, were
entertained in some quarters that the French ecclesiastical
establishment in Canada would gradually be transmuted into
an English one. To understand the ground of such an expec-
tation, it must be remembered that in the times of Louis XIV.,
XV., XVL, Gallicanism in France was not the eclipsed and
slighted thing which it has since become ; that its principles
were a part of the public policy, and associated with a sense of
the national honour ; and that consequently, in Canada also,
the same principles would have weight in the minds of the
educated f»nd intelligent portion of the population. Anglican-
ism and Gallicanism, on their political side, were known to be
in the main identical. In both, " the king's pleasure,'' • '^
royal prerogative, was invested with a great sacredness. The
royal will, promulgated from London, would gradually obtain
an acquiescence as real as that given to the word of the great
monarch at Paris.
Mr. Maseres, Attorney-General at Quebec in 1766, believed
that immediately after the conquest, the Galilean parishes
might have been converted, as vacancies occurred, into Angli-
can ones, by the induction into the living at the will of the
31
e continent
at had been
•ancU of the
[any of the
grants from
-rans-marlne
itions of the
these ontly-
been held to
; area of the
its spiritual
s frequently
risdiction to
ires, it being
governments,
icide.
to us, were
ecclesiastical
psmuted into
ch an expec-
Louis XIV.,
eclipsed and
Its principles
th a sense of
Canada also,
ninds of the
Anglican-
known to be
easure,'' ^■'^
idness. The
ually obtain
of the great
766, believed
can parishes
into Angli-
will of the
Enfflish King, of Anglican instead of Gallican presbyters.
" I really believe," he says in his evidence before the House of
Commons in 1774, "if it had been done at first, it might have
created some immediate inconvenience ; but that would have
worn out a long time ago. They are a submissive, quiet peo-
ple. I believe in many places, if a Protestant minister had
been put in upon the vacancy of a priest, a very little pains
taken by a Protestant minister would have brought over many
to the Protestant religion." — Cavendish: Delates on the
Qucheo BUI,, p. 137. With like ease, we may suppose, on the
principles of Gallicanlsm, the see of Quebec, when void, might
have been filled up by the appointment of an Anglican blt^hop.
But the very unsophisticated condition of Canadian society
which furnished ground for opinions such as these, soon came
to an end. The transfer of civil allegiance had taken place
without difficulty; the transfer of spiritual allegiance was a
different matter.
At the capitulation of Montreal, In 1760, the free exercise of
the " Catholic Apostolic Roman Religion" was guaranteed.
In other words, the tenets and practices of the Gallican Church
already established in the country were to continue as before,
only subject to the supremacy of the English King.
By the year 17T4, when the Act for the better government
of the Province of Quebec was passed, the idea of superseding
Gallican functionaries by Anglicans could no longer be enter-
tained. The Parliament guaranteed afresh the Gallican rights.
But it was necessary now to consider the spiritual necessities of
colonists of British birth who had begun to take no their
abode In Canada. According to this Act, viz., 14 Geo. III.
c. So, the tithe enjoined under the Gallican system was to con-
tinue to be paid by all the inhabitants ; but it was provided
that only the tithes paid by the members of the Gallican com-
munion should go to the support of the Galilean clergy. Out
of the rest it would be lawful for " his Majesty, his heirs and
successors, to provide for the maintenance and support of a
protestant clergy, as from time to time should be necessary
and convenient."
To explain this reference to tithes, we must remember that
M
fill II
'f
I
,ii I
ii'
I!
t i
8S
the fendal system of Europe had been transplanted to French
Canada, and with it the institution of tithes for the mainte-
nance of the public functionaries of religion. To continue such
an arrangement seemed natural enough to English statesmen
in the last century, for tithes were still a part of the English
system of government. From the time of the Anglo-Saxon
kings, a tenth of the produce of the ground had been set apart
for the maintenance of public worship. According to the
Anglo-Saxon theory, all the estate of the country was vested in
the King. Under him the liand was divided amongst a few,
who held their possessions subject to conditions. Those who
tilled the soil under the great land-owners had simply to dis-
charge that function. In communities thus constituted, it was
easy to establish the usage of tithes. All that was required on
the part of the class thereby to be provided for, was to convince
the kings of a supposed bounden duty.. The feat was then
achieved.
As long as the feudal system continued, or a system tanta-
mount to it, without challenge from any quarter, such a mode
of supporting public religious woi'ship, shared in by all, would
be likely to go on without dispute, and with no sense of injus-
tice on the part of any.
But let the system, for some reason, begin to be broken up,
and, at the same time, along with the creation of a numerous
class of land-owners in fee simple, let there arise, from some
cause, individual thinking on religious subjects ; — let the plea
of authority on such points begin to be questioned, — then we
should expect to hear of a demur to tithes. We should expect
to hear a demand for a change in their appropriation, if not
for their abolition. We shoidd expect, under the supposed
altered circumstances, to hear demands of a similar character
made in relation to other provisions for public worship, if de-
rived from land. We should expect this, because we can with-
out difficulty conceive of cases where the forced continuance of
the feudal use and tradition, would seem a violation of the sense
of right which is innate in every man.
It consequently strikes us as singular now, that it was so
readily taken for granted that tithes would be a perpetual in-
^
to French
he mainte-
ntinne auch
statesmen
he English
iiglo-Saxon
;n set apart
iing to the
as vested in
iigst a few,
Those who
nply to dis-
tnted, it was
rcqnired on
i to convince
at was then
rstem tanta-
mch a mode
)y all, wonld
use of injus-
jroken up,
numerous
from some
et the plea
— then we
lould expect
ation, if not
le supposed
ar character
(rship, if de-
ve can with-
ntinuance of
of the sense
,t it was so
)erpetual in-
i
33
stitution amonjr the inhahitants of Canada. It is one more
evidence to be added to the many observable in the debates on
American affairs, of an almost Bourbonic want of political fore-
cast in Parliamentary majorities at the close of the last cen-
tury. Tiiey did not comprehend the times in which they were,
or the races at homo and abroad for whom they legislated.
In the debates of 1774, no member of the House offered a
definition of the term, "protestant clergy." IlinG jprima
mali lobes. At that period the religious communities developed
and developing from the Anglican Church had not acquired
the status which they afterwards attained. But they existed ;
unwotted of or ignored by the statesmen in power and their
unquestioning followers ; taken into account, however, incon-
siderable as they might seem to others, by the thoughtful and
very intelligent men that constituted the minority in the
English House of Commons.
The officials of these new religious communities had not yet
been classed in public documents with those of the Anglican
Church ; but the minority, in all probability, foresaw that a
recognition of them was inevitable in the future. To the
influence of this minority is, we think, due the undefined term,
" protestant clergy." It is clear, from the debates, that when
there was a necessity of refemng expressly to the Anglican
Church and its functionaries, the mode of speaking was dis-
tinct enough on both sides of the House.
Tlie Solicitor-General "VVedderburn could use in serious ear-
nest such language as the following: — "When we tell the
Roman Catholics of Canada that we will not oppress them, we
at the same time tell the followers of the Church of England
that whenever their faith shall prevail, it shall have a right to
its establishment. As soon as the majority of a parish shall
be Protestant inhabitants, then I think the ministers of the
Crown are bound to make the minister of that parish a Pro-
testant clergyman ; then, I think, it could not be felt by any
man an act of injustice to say, that the whole revenue of that
parish shall be paid to the l*rotestant clergyman." — Cavendish^
Delates, p. 219.
Mr. Dunning's views were more in accordance with what
8
i|;
tl'
i
*ll
I!
t
84
has proved tlio inevitable policy : — " My opinion of religious
toleration," ho said, " goes to all who stand in need of it, in
all parts of the globe. It is a natural right of mankind, that
men should judge for themselves, and offer up to the Creator
that worship whioh they conceive likely to be most luceptable
to Ilim. It is neither competent, wise nor just, for society to
restrain them further than is necessary." — Hid, p. 220.
In like strain, but, as it would seem in the sequel, with eome-
wliat less breadth, Ednmnd Burke, in the same debate, declared
that the recognition of religious tolerance, as a principle of
government, was wanted, not only in the colonies, but nearer
hojne : — " The thirsty earth of our own country," he eloquently
exclaimed, " is gasping and crying out for the healing shower
from heaven. The noble lord [North] hps told you of the
right of these people [the Canadian Gallicans] by treaty ; but
I consider the right of conquest bo little, and the right of
human nature so much, that the former has very little consi-
deration with mo." He did not approve of the application of
the term "established" to the Galilean Church in Canada,
oven when all its rights, according to the treaty, were acknow-
ledged. If that term were to be used at all, it sl-ould be in
reference, he said, to " that approved religion which wo call
the religion of the Church of England ; " that is, he indulged
the hypothesis for a moment, that there was going to be an
establishment, but he does not advocate it ; for all, ho conti-
nued, " ought to contribute to the support of some religion or
other " (p. 233). Ilia proposition was, that the custom of tithes
should continue throughout Canada, but that the tithes of the
non-Gallicans should be handed over in trust to the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ; a proposition
at which the Attorney-General Thurlow expressed his indigna-
tion, as being tantamount to- saying that " it is a fitter thing
to place greater confidence in the wisdom and discretion of a
religious corporation, than the King," i. c, the Executive
(p. 223). Mr. Burke also threw out the suggestion, that several
Christian communities might make use, at different times, of
the same public place of worship : — " When the people become
divided in their religion, why not follow the generous example
.■^'
of religioii»
iced of it, in
iankind, that
) the Creator
st acceptable
for society to
\ 220.
el, witli eome-
bate, declared
I principl«j of
69, Lut nearer
he eloquently
ealing shower
Id you of the
jy treaty ; hut
i the right of
jry little consi-
application of
ch in Canada,
I, were acknow-
it should be in
which wo call
is, he indulged
going to be an
•r all, ho conti-
ome religion or
:u8tom of tithea
le tithes of the
the Society for
; a proposition
led his indigna-
is a fitter thing
discretion of a
the Executive
ion, that several
fferent tlines, of
I people become
nerous example
35
set by the treaty of "Westphalia, by which the duties ot two or
three establishments were discharged in the same church on
the same day, the Roman Catholic, the Lutheran, and the
Reformed Religion ? It is an example," ho thinks, " worthy
of a Christian church ^ it is a happy union, which has fixed
peace forever in those provinces." (p. 224).
The Act of 1774 finally passed, with the proviso that " It
shall be lawful for His Majesty, his heirs or successor^, to make
such provision out of the rest of the said accustomed dues end
rights [that is, after paying the Gallican clergy] for the encou-
ragement of the protestaut religion, and for the maintenance
and support of a protestant clergy within the said province, as
he or they shall from time to time think necessary and expe-
dient" (p. 216).
Prior to the conquest of Canada, the whole of Nova Scotia,
otherwise called Acadia, had been ceded, by the treaty of
Utrecht, to the crown of Great Britain ; and in view of the
obligations which, in consequence of this cession, had fallen
upon the ecclesiastical authorities of England, a spiritual
superintendent, with the title of Bishop of Nova Scotia, had
been sent out to establish for the people of the recent acquisi-
tion, with such speed and permanence as should be possible,
the ministrations and institutions of the Anglican Church.
In like manner, the possession of Canada, another immense
section of the late French domain in North America, now called
for attention on the part of the Anglican spiritual authorities.
" I look upon the people of Canada," said Edmund Burke,
in the debate on the Quebec Bill, already referred to, " as
coming by the dispensation of God under the British Govern-
ment." Tlie authorities of the Anglican Church in England
could look at the matter in no inferior light. Accordingly, the
area that had hitherto been occupied by the Gallican Church
in Canada was regarded by them as having passed, according
to ancient usage, by virtue of the civil conquest, ipso facto,
into the area over which henceforth the Anglican Church must
exercise jurisdiction ; and in the early state of the Christian
body, before the prevalence of the Roman theories, the Angli-
; 1) i 1
! '{
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
-;
i 1
\h II i
i 'P^i!
M !
!!
36
ean branch of the Universal Church would have been every-
where sustained in its judgment and action.
The persons most interested in this transfer of spiritual and
ecclesiastic authority, are of course the laity and clergy of the
Galilean Church in Canada. With them it took place without
recognition ; perhaps without their consciousness. Had it
happily been otherwise, as, at one time, there was some chance
of its being, the semblance of schism which unfortunately exists,
would have been wholly avoided. What we desire to be
pointedly taken notice of, is this — that the course to be pur
sued by the Anglican Churcb under the circumstances in which
it found itself was plain — according to the principles of tlie
ancient canons and use ; and it was this : that it must occupy
the area which had fallen under its jurisdiction : that in resolv-
ing on this step, it simply performed a duty, and could not be
charged with the promotion of schism.
The establishment of an Anglican see at Quebec in 1793 was
connected also with the civil policy which two years previously
had led to the division of Canada into two provinces with dis-
tinct governments.
The continued increase of the population of British origin
suggested the setting apart of a large section of the country for
their occupancy under a constitution after the English plan,
while public faith was kept with the descendants of the original
French inhabitants, still securing to them in the area occupied
by them, their peculiar usages and laws.
The same change in the character of the population rendered
advisable the appointment of an Anglican bishop for the pro-
motion of the interests of the Anglican Church. And although
the bulk of the members of that communion would be found
in the later western settlements, it was in accordance with
ancient ecclesiastical custom to establish the see of the bishop,
in the first instance, in the metropolis of the whole country,
leaving to posterity the duty of erecting from time to time ad-
ditional sees in the other large cities as they should spring up.
The first bishop sent out to the new see by the Anglican
Church in England was Dr. Jacob Mountain. An incident
been every-
spiritual and
jlergy of the
)lace without
;s8. Had it
Bome chance
inatcly exists,
desire to be
3e to be pur
nces in which
iciples of the
i must occupy
that in resolv-
l could not be
Bc in 1793 was
jars previously
nces with dis-
British origin
he country for
nglish plan,
of the original
area occupied
ation rendered
p for the pro-
And although
ould be found
cordance with
of the bishop,
hole country,
ne to time ad-
Lild spring up.
the Anglican
An incident
37
occurred on his arrival at Quebec which is illustrative of the
temperate Gallicanism of the day, to which allusion has been
made. As the English functionary stepped ashore from the
ship, he is saluted on both cheeks by the venerable Gallican
bishop of the city. Accustomed as we moderns are to the
affected superciliousness of Ultramontanism, we are somewhat
startled by an occurrence that seems to remit us back to the
early days of Christianity. Bishop Briand who thus so beauti-
fully exemplified the simplicity of his character as a Gallican
ecclesiastic, was at the time a very aged man. For fifty-three
years he had ministerially served the Gallican Church in
Canada. The duties of his charge were at this moment in the
hands of a coadjutor and he died in the following year. It will
throw light on the state of feeling in relation to England and
its policy on the part of ecclesiastics in Canada thirty years
after the conquest, if we mention further in regard to this
Christian-tempered man, that it was from the conversations
held with him, that the Gallican bishop Joseph Octave Plessis,
of Quebec, subsequently so distinguished, derived his know-
ledge of the causes that had brought about the fall of the French
Government in Canada and of the character of the men who
directed the affairs of the colony before it had been ceded to
Eiii'land, These conversations, we are assured bv the Abbo
Ferland, in his Biographical Notice of Bishop Plessis, had their
intluence on tlie opinions which the latter formed in relation
to the two ffoverinnents. "In considerinjx the svstem," the
Al)b(? says, "of vexatious trickery organized against the Church
and the people of the country, by some of the chiefs and sub-
ordinate employ(?s who .vcre sent by the court of Louis XV., at
that time under the sceptre of Madame Pompadour, he could
not but admit that under the English government the [Gallican]
clergy and rural population enjoyed more liberty than was
accorded to them before the conquest." — Biog. JVotiec, p. 14,
From the moment of the conquest Bishop Briand was willing to
accept the situation of affairs, lie may have be3n one of the
enlightened Galileans on whose sentiments Mr Maseres and
othevi based the opinion that the gradual transformation of the
Gallican establishment in Canada into an An<ilican one had
m\
"1
Ik.
38
been at one time a possible thing. " lie had scarcely seen the-
British arms placed over the gates of our city," says M. Plessia
in the oration at his funeral, " when he concoived in an instant
that God had transferred to England, the dominion over thi*
country ; that with the change of profession, our duties had
changed their object ; that the ties that had till then united
us to France, had been broken asunder ; that our capitulations,
as well as the treaty of peace in 17G3, were so many new ties
that attached us to Great Britain, in submitting us to her sove-
reign ; he perceived that which nobody else seemed to suspect,
that religion herself would gain by V'.o change of domination."^
Ibid p. 24.
At the risk perhaps of prolonging this digression to too great
an extent, we subjoin two other examples of a practically libe-
ral Gallicanism occurring in the period and region on which
our attention is now fixed. In 1752, M. Moreau, a presbyter
of the Gallican church, and formerly Prior of the Abbey of St,
Matthew, near Brest, in France, conformed to the Anglican
church and officiated in the communion of that Church at
Halifax and Lunenburg in Nova Scotia, ministering in three
languages to a very mixed population. And in 17G2, M.
Maillard, a presbyter of the Gallican Church and Vicar-General
in Nova Scotia of the Gallican Bishop of Quebec, was, at his
own request, ministerially attended in his lis;, .siekness by Mr.
Wood, an Anglican presbyter, and was bur " y iiim with the
ceremonies of the Anglican ritual. {Iluwi ..'■■i' \fissions^ p.
360.) — The intelligent convictions in regard to ihn Anglican
Church entertained by learned divines in France itself, in the
early part of the last century are well known. Archbishop
AVake's correspondence with Dupin and others of the Sorbonne
took place in 171S, It can be seen at the end of Maclaine's
Mosheim. The work of Peter Francis Courayer, presbyter of
the Gallican Church, proving the valid'^y of Anglican orders,
appeared in 1723.
The Act of Parliament which divide^ ; '::nada into two dis-
tinct Governments exhibits the same ecclesiastical phraseology
that characterized the Act of 177-1 for the better government
of the Province of Quebec. The expression "proteatant clergy"
3ely seen tlie-
^8 M. Plessis
in an instant
ion over thifr
r duties had
then united
capitulations,
lany new ties
19 to her sove-
ed to suspect,
domination."^
•n to too great
•actically libe-
('ion on which
lu, a presbyter
3 Abbey of St,
the Anglican
lat Church at
tering in three
\ in 1702, M.
Vicar-General
)ec, was, at his
kness by Mr.
hiui with the
\fissions, p.
; ilio, Anglican
ce itself, in the
Archbishop
)f the Sorbonne
I of Machiine's
er, presbyter of
nglican orders,
ia into two dis-
eal phraseology
tcr government
otestant clergy"
39
reappeai's ; but along with it there are directions sufficiently
explicit for the establishment of parsonages or rectories with
incumbents or ministers of the Church of England in every
township. But there now appears an im{)ortant clause to the
effect that any of the enactments in relation to the maintenance
of Public Worship may be varied or repealed by the local
parliament of either of the new provinces ; but yet the royal
assent was not to be given to any such Act of the local legis-
lature without a notice of thirty days to the Imperial Parlia-
ment.
Between 1774 and 1791, the date of the Act to which refer-
ence is now made, the older colonies of Great Britain on the
American continent had declared themselves independent. To
be legislated for by a Body in which they were not represented
was one of the grounds of complaint. In the provision for
future variation and repeal in the Canada Act of 1791 we can
see that the lesson in Colonial policy derivable from the events
of the years just preceding had not been thrown away ; although
at the same time in the guarded manner in which the provision
is made, we can also see an effort to save the dignity of the
Imperial Parliament.
In 1774 Lord North and his party had supposed that public
affairs at home and in the colonies were about to be conducted
for ever just as he and they were then endeavouring to conduct
them. The French Government had established permanently
in Canada the unreformed religion. The British Government
could with equal facility establish permanently the reformed
religion. But a wiser minority knew that this could not be.
In regard to the measures proposed for the better government
of the Province of Quebec, Mr. William Burke declared that
"the gentlemen who opposed the bill, knowing that it was
impossible to defeat it, had almost worked themselves to death,
to make it as far as they could, consonant to English liberty,
and the principles of the English constitution." Cavendish, p.
252. It was this minority or the representatives of this mino-
rity that were the authors of the provision for future variation
and repeal in the Act of 1791. They knew the growing
strength of the parties at home that were demanding not simply
*■ ■;.
flii
m
%:
WA
i
* : )
§
I
i
40
religious toleration, but equality in the eye of the law for all
religious opinions and forms. They were persuaded that such
a claim having its root in the nature of things would never be
relinquished, would of a certainty in another day and generation
be recognised by governments. Foreseeing that Canada, like
the more southern portions of the North American continent,
was destined to be tilled with colonists from the mixed popula-
hitions of the British Islands, they perceived that the English
constitution with its theory of amalgamation with the historic
Anglican Church could not be introduced there with any
chance of permanency. The settlers from the old countries of
Europe would be actuated by the different and even opposite
systems of thought and belief prevalent in the community just
left : amongst these, imity of sentiment in regard to matters
either civil or religious, was not to be expected ; and certainly
could not in any arbitrary way be enforced.
To these conflicting elements, it was also well known, another
had recently been added. The newly opened country of Wes-
tern Canada had become an asylum for refugees from the late
colonies to the south of the St. Lawrence and its lakes. These
emigrants, although likely, from the fact of their flight from a
revolution, to "oc generally of an unprogressive disposition, would
yet bring with them a sharpened intelligence in regard to mat
tere connected with civil and religious rights. It might well
be argued by far-seeing persons that a conuannity thus com-
posed could not long exist without manifesting the usual British
North American temper, and putting in a protest against every
semblance of arbitrary power.
Hence it happened that while in the Act for the division of
the Province of Quebec into the new governments of Upper
and Lower Canada, there was a show of doing much for the
maintenance of the reformed religion as a set-off" to the strongly
entrenched position guaranteed by treaty to the unreformed
religion, the same document contained within itself a provision
by the operation of which the proposed safeguards for the
reformed religion might be, according to circumstances, either
wholly altered in character or wholly abolished. Both sides of
the House were probably for the moment gratified ; but on the
..,!*»'■
41
0 law for all
ed that such
iild never be
d generation
Canada, like
in continent,
ixed popula-
the English
1 the historic
re with any
I countries of
ven opposite
nmunity just
[I to matters
vnd certsvinly
own, another
ntry of Wes-
froni the late
akes. These
flight from a
)sition, would
egard to mat
't might well
ty thus corn-
usual IJritish
against every
le division of
nts of Upper
luich for the
) the strongly
unreformed
ilf a provision
lards for the
tanccs, either
Both sides of
1 ; but on the
'IS
I
#
people of Canada of British descent there was entailed for a
series of years a distressing controversy.
In less than one generation the measure of 1791, in as far
as it related to a "protestant clergy," began to produce its
natural fruit. By the year 1818 the population of Upper
Canada had considerably increased, principally by immigra-
tion ; and the diflerenccs of religious persuasion which must
always exist in communities drafted from the British Islands
were of course developed. The newly arrived emigrant, in
search of a " location," found in each township every seventh
two-hundred-acre lot unpurchasable. This, he is told, is a
clergy reserve. The attention of numerous shrewd, practical
men is tlius pointedly drawn to the existence of clergy reserves ;
first, as obstructions to settlement ; but, secondly, as to their
object and significance. In answer to his inquiries on the latter
point, the sensitive covenanter of North Britain, or the stub-
born non-conformist of Lancashire or York, is informed that
by moans of these reserved lands, in the new community to
whicli he is about to transplant his family, the Anglican system
of faith and worship is ensured to the people forever — the very
system of faith and worship which from his childhood he had
been taught heartily to abjure.
It is ex{)lained to him that " the Crown" had taken charge
of the spiritual interests of the general public. There had
been a military conquest. The former sovereign had decreed
a provision for his national religion ; tlie incoming lord of the
soil could do no less in regard to the approved faith of his own
nation.
This did not exclude, he might be told, special religious
interests. It was open to the partizans of every phase of belief
to obtain lands for their own particular purposes. Land to any
extent was still at the public disposal, and might be had for the
asking.
Placing ourselves in the position of newly arrived emigrants
in 1818, much of all this would seem like the revelation of a
new idea ; and we need not wonder that with many, occasion
would be given for a great diversity of thought.
r '• \
42
Some, as members of the great commonwealth of Britain,
would not bo well pleased to find themselves shut out from an
advantage which had emanated from the Crown, the action of
which, it must be taken for granted, was for the benefit of all.
The landed endowments of the parent state for the purposes of
Public Worship, may have been set apart by individuals. To
forfeit a claim upon them was an intelligible matter; but here
was an endowment confessedly decreed by the Crown, the
representative of the whole state. What was it that could
induce forfeiture of a share in it?
Others would foresee the embarrassments likely to afilict
posterity, were all schools of belief to acquire roots literally in
land. Would it not come to pass ultimately that field would
be added to field for tlio spiritual husbandman until scant place
would be left for the secular ?
Otiiers again would entertain doubts as to the reiisonable-
ness of propagating the faith by land at all.
We are not surprised to find that this conflict of opinion
among the practical colonizers of Upper Canada resulted at
length, in 1819, in a reference to the law-officers of the Crown
in England, for some definite interpretation of the Imperial
Act, so far as it related to lands set apart for Public Worship.
Tlie decision obtained was — that the ministers of the Kirk
of Scotland were included in the term " protestant clergy ; "
but that no part of the rents and profits of the lands reserved
for the purposes of Public Worship might go to the support or
maintenance of ministers of dissenting protestant congrega-
tions, "these not being included in the 'protestant clergy'
recognized and established by law."
To quiet some further apprehensions in connexion with the
ecclesiastical question it was deemed expedient by the parlia-
ment of Upper Canada in 1823 to pass an Act declaring it to
be unlawful to claim or receive tithes within tluit province.
It had not before been expressly declared that the setting apart
of every seventh two-hundred-acre lot in each surveyed town-
ship was in lieu of the tithe of the products of that township.
In Lower Canada the custom of tithe had continued. At first,
during the continuance of the French rule, it was decreed that
of Britain,
)ut from an
lie action of
nefit of all.
purposes of
iduals. To
ir ; but here
Crown, the
that could
ly to afilicl
d literally in
iieUl would
il scant place
} reason able-
;t of opinion
I resulted at
Df the Crown
the Imperial
>lie Worship,
of the Kirk
ant clerixy ; "
inds reserved
;he 8upp«>rt or
uit conj^rega-
•stant clergy'
xion with the
>y the parlia-
leclaring it to
that province.
iB setting apart
irveyed town-
liat township,
ued. At first,
,3 decreed that
43
every thirteenth sheaf should go to the Crown for the main-
tenance of rublic "Worship. Afterwards, a complaint being
made to the intendant, it was decided tliat only every twenty
sixth sheaf should be reserved ; but that tlie farmer must thresh
it out. It was urged by some, that in the absence of a legal
declaration to the contrary, this custom guaranteed at the con-
quest was binding in Upper Canada.
The public mind failing still to be tranquilized by the modi-
fications thus far made in ecclesiastical matters, we find in 1827
a select committee of the English House of Commons appointed
to consider the civil government of Canada. In their report
they interpret the Act of 1791 more liberally than the law
officers of the Crown had done in 1819. "Doubts have
arisen," they say, " whether the Act [of 1791] requires the
Government to confine [the profits arising from the lands set
apart for Public Worship] to the use of the Church of England
only, or to allow the Church of Scotland to participate in them.
The law officers of the Crown have given an opinion in favor
of the right of the Church of Scotland to such participation,
in which j'our committee entirely concur. But the question
has also been raised, whether the clergy of every denomination
of Christians, except Roman Catholics, may not be included.
* * vf They entertain no doubt, however, that the intention
of those persons who brought forward the measure in Parlia-
ment, was to endow with parsonage houses and glebe lands the
clergy of the Church of England, at the discretion of the local
Government ; but with respect to the distribution of the pro-
coeds of the reserved lands generally, they are of opinion that
they sought to reserve to the Government the right to apply
the money, if they so saw fit, to any protestant clergy."
In the same year an Imperial act was passed, authorizing
the sale of a portion of the ecclesiastical lands in Canada, in
order that with the proceeds the remainder might be improved.
Nothing, however, was said in this document of any change in
the assignment of those lands ; but, moved by the continued
disputations on the question, the Crown, in 1832, invited the
Parliament of Upper Canada to act upon the power which they
possessed, to vary or repeal the provisions of the original statute.
u
V
■^ 'f
'1'
I
: -M
]■
ki
i 1 ■
ill m
I
1
In 1833, there was accordingly a proposal in the Lower
House, to re-invest the ecclesiastical lands in the Crown,
for such re-distribution as might be decided on in England.
I3nt the Hill did not pass. In 1835, a measure did pass the
Lower House, but failed in the Upper, docriding to soil the
whole of them within four years, and to devote the proceeds
to Public Education. It is said that measures proposed by the
popular branch of the parliauient of L^pper Canada, for the
settlement of the question, were sixteen times rejected by the
other House, whose members M'ero appointed irrespective of
the popular will.
In ISJrO, an Act w.as passed by both branches of the Upper
Canadian Legislature, by which it was determined to sell the
residue of the ecclesiastical lands, and to distribute the pro-
ceeils in the proportion of half to the Anglican Church and
Scottish Kirk ; and half to purposes of " Public Worship and
religious instruction, among the remaining denominations, ac-
cording to the discretion of the Governor in Council." The
proceeds of the lands that had been sold under the statute of
1827, were to be divided between the two first named bodies
solely.
In 1853, this arrangement was again distm-bed; but a deci-
sion was arrived at that was final. Tlie Imperial Parliament
authorized the Local Legislature, to sell the whole, biit to se-
cure to all ecclesiastical persons for their natural lives or
incumbencies, the stipends which, at the passing of the Act,
they were deriving from the reserve funds.
In the long war waged on the subject of the ecclesiastical
lands in Canada, Dr. Strachan was the most distinguished
chieftain and combatant. Campaign after campaign was plan-
ned and conducted by him ; but he found himself steadily
opi)osed by a force that could neither be resisted nor eluded ;
a force that slowly but with certainty drove him in from the
open field to the lines ; from the lines to the works ; and from
the works to the citadel's inmost retreats, while along every inch
of the way, he covered his position and his men with consummate
skill and unflinching energy and courage. He had accepted
the declarations of the third and fourth Georges, in regard to
45
the Lower
the Crown,
in En<;land.
lid pass the
to poll the
he pi'ocei'ds
)0sed by the
iula, for the
;cte(l by the
espective of
f the Upper
1 to sell the
lite the pro-
Chnrch and
V^orship and
linations, ac-
incii;' The
lie statute of
lined bodies
; but a dcci-
Parliainoiit
0, but to rtc-
ral livos or
of the Ac-t,
3ccle!iiiisti('al
Istinicnished
'j^n was plan-
self steadily
nor eluded ;
in from the
; and from
g every inch
consummate
ad accepted
in regard to
i
VJ#-
the perpetual establishment of the Anglican church in (^anada,
in the true spirit of chivalry. The word of a king in 1774 or
1818, was received as the word of a Tudor or a Bourbon wonld
have been by the average Englishman or Frenchman in bj--
gone years. The royal will was, with him, in accordance with
feudal tradition, endued with u sanctity that was inviolable.
The public statute that professed to embody and put in force
that will was as a Magna Cliarta from which in all future time
there could be no swerving.
Fifty years ago it was not extensively discerned in Canada
that the Act of 1791 was in some of its provisions antagonistic
to a principle which had been long struggling for a wider and
wider recognition in government, namely, the supremacy of
the will of a nation over all individual w-ill. This principle
had indeed been saved in the casual but important clause pro-
viding for future variation and repeal, should the new commu-
nity through its representatives so decree when organized and
mature. But tlie tone of the Act in respect to ecclesiastical
arrangements, if we leave out of consideration this clause, was
calculated to mislead ; to mislead at all events those minds that
did not recognize or else regarded with no satisfaction, the course
which constitutionalism had taken in Great Britain and its de-
pendencies for a century past or more. That Act, as we have
already seen, took its tone in a great degree from the policy of
the French Crown in relation to Canada while yet a French
colony. It was thus, to some «^xtent an exceptional measure
in British policy. It created for a moment in a remote nook
of the empire a state of things approximating to that against
which a great deal of English history is a protest. Calculations
based upon the irrevocableness of such a statute could not help
coming out wrong.
Furthermore it is to be considered that the interests over
which the struggle in Canada took place were those of a sepa-
rate class. Even within the pale of the communion for whose
benefit exclusively or principally the lands for Public Worship
were originally set apart, there are misgivings as to the expe-
diency of isolating clergy by means of landed endowments. It
is known that in old communities such endowments have' a
—I' '■
ill 'f
i It
It
m
t SI;
46
tcndenoy to render clergy and laity indifferent to each other.
With minds hiased to some extent by the working of this ten-
dencty large numbers of lay people had emigrated. A proba-
bility therefore existed beforehand that in an ecclesiastical
question such as that which agitated Canada for bo many years,
the bulk of the Anglican communion would be lukewarm ; as
in fact they as ;i people proved themselves to be : while mem-
bers of other ommunions acting under the direction of their
of!i(riiil instructors, and all having much to gain, were steadily
and unitedly on the alert.
That the Anglican communion came out of the struggle with
any relics at all of the possessions contended for, was wholly
duo to the fact that its champion was a resolute member of
the order most deeply interested in the question.
Wo have next to glance briefly at the Canadian educational
question.
When the schetno of Public Instruction for Upper Canada
came to receive its crowning institution, a University, it was
discovered that here again was involved the same element that
had occasioned the trouble in the matter of tlie lands for Public
Woi*ship. So long ago as 1797 a movement, as we have already
noticed, began for the securing of an endowment for Grammar
Schools and a University ; and live hundred thousand acres of
the }>iiblic domain were set apart for that purpose. Ten years
later tlirco Grammar Schools are sustained out of the proceeds
of these lands, one at Cornwall, one at Kingston, one at Niagara.
Subsequently, from time to time, others are established else-
where. And no complaint is heard as to exclusiveness in their
niaiuigemcnt. Put in 1827 a royal charter is promulgated,
instituting a Univci'sity for Upper Canada under the title of
King's College. The terms of the charter showed that the
advisers of the Crown in England had not at that time realized
the principles which were destined to govern modern colonial
policy in regard to religion and representative government.
It was still supposed that by virtue of a royal declaration a
distinction in favour of the Anglican communion could be
arbitrarily made and maintained without gainsa}'ing or demur
in the midst of a composite British colonial community.
.1^ i
47
0 each other.
g of this ten-
d. A proba-
ecclesiastical
0 many yeare,
ukewarm ; as
; while mem-
ction of their
were steadily
1 struggle with
►r, was wholly
ite member of
m educational
Jpper Canada
iversity, it was
e element that
mds for Public
e have already
: for Grammar
usand acres of
je. Ten years
)f the proceeds
)ne at Niagara,
itablished else-
veness in their
promulgated,
er the title of
owed that the
X time realized
lodern colonial
e government.
declaration a
nion could be
,ying or demur
imunitv.
w
According to the letter of the charter the new tJniversity
was, in its government, strictly an institution appertaining to
the Anglican Church in Upper Canada. There were to be
seven professors in the Arts and Faculties who, the charter
declares, " shall be members of the Established United Church
of England and Ireland and shall severally sign and subscribe
the Tliirty-nine Articles." The Anglican bishop for the time
being of the diocese in which the University was situate, was
to be the visitor ; the Governor or Lieutenant-Government for
the time being, was to be Chancellor; the President was to be
a clergyman in holy orders of the United Church of England
and Ireland; and more particularly still, "the Archdeacon of
York, in our said Province, for the time being shall, by virtue
of such his office, be at all times the President of the said Col-
lege." But at the same time it is directed that no religious
test should be applied to any persons admitted as students or as
graduates in the said College, excepting only to graduates in
Divinity, who were to be subject to the conditions enjoined for
degrees in that faculty at Oxford. The proposed institution
was rendered capable of holding lands in the Province of Up-
per Canada to the value of £15,000 sterling per annum above
all charges and to enjoy the proceeds of subsequent purchases
and benefactions, without restriction. All these arrangements
were to continue for ever. The particular lands that were to
yield the £15,000 per annum are not named. But as it was
understood that one half of the school-property, reserved for a
Provincial University, was to constitute the messuages, tene-
ments and hereditaments spoken of in the chartei", the House
of Assembly of Upper Canada very soon demurred. They had
even been so cautious, prior to the announcement of particu-
lars, as to express gratitude to the Crown for the institution of
a University only on conditions, one of which was, "if the
principles on which it has been founded shall, upon inquiry,
prove to be friendly to the civil and religious liberty of the
l)eople."
After ten years of natural but wearisome dispute, the charter
is modified, not, however, by the Crown, but by the local Par-
liament, as if to leave on record instructive evidence of the
mm
Ml'
|:;
fi
ii.i' ' \
I'll
i
!ii
i ^i !
li
1
ilj^;
f <»
i fi- !
j
*^l
I
48
Biicccsslvc stops which circumstances rendered inevitable in the
march of modern English colonial policy.
Now it was decided that the visitors of the institution shoidd
bo the Judges of the King's Bench ; that in future the Presi-
dent need not bo the incumbent of any ecclesiastical office ;
that the professors and other members of the governing Board
should not necessarily be members of the Anglican Church.
Our purpose does not require of us to pursue the history of
the provincial University any farther. It is sufficient to have
set forth the character and the fate of its original cliarter, as
constructed under the eye of Dr. Strachan, during a visit to
England in 1827.
The adoption of the particular iblic policy thus far followed
in the career now under revit ^ceives perhaps additional
elucidation when we recal the era in which the early youth of
Dr. Strachan was passed. The stirring events of the French
Ilevolution, at the close of the last century, had upon different
classes of minds in the British Islands very opposite effects.
Men in advanced life were rendered more stubborn than ever
in their resistance to change in English law and custom. Their
zeal for feudal institutions, atid the traditional feudal ideas,
became extravagant. A large proportion of the rising youth
of tiie land were also indoctrinated by them with maxims fated
afterwards to be painfully unlearned. On the other hand,
persons in every stage and grade of life, disposed previously by
temj)erament and other casual circumstances to ameliorations
in aftairs, became unduly excited, and, failing the check inter-
posed by calmer and wiser minds, were prepared to hurry the
nation into a chaos of anarchy. Instances of this sanguine,
imaginative class were Southey, Coleridge and Wordsworth,
who all lived to be sounder judges of the exigencies of the
British people. Of the other class who were quickened in
their hostility to the modifications which were needed, and
which huve since been steadily adopted or kept in view, the
King himself, George III., was a conspicuous type — a type
repeated in the persons of his favorite political advisers.
Of an intermediate and more salutary effect of the momen-
tous crisis in France, Edmund Burke was an illustration. A
m
49
Itiil/lo in tlio
ition should
•c the Presi-
itical office;
rning Board
n Church,
lie history of
;ient to have
i\ cliarter, as
iir a visit to
I far foHowed
18 additional
[irly youth of
:' the French
pon different
losite effects.
)rn than ever
istom. Their
feudal ideas,
rising youth
maxims fated
other hand,
>reviously by
inieliorations
check inter-
to hurry the
lis sanguine,
Wordsworth,
encies of the
quickened in
needed, and
in view, the
type— a type
visers.
the momen-
istration. A
M
man of wide views and profound intelligence, lio had long f^ecn
the social and political needs of the British empire, and had long
striven to satisfy thein. The frenzy of the French people did
not alter his opinions on these subjects : it simply made him
more measured, more cautious and safe in the methods to be
applied in the case of his fellow-countrymen.
At this period of sifUng conflict were formed the convictions
which guided Dr. Straehan throughout his public career.
Endmved not largely with the gifts of imagination and fancy,
ho was not tempted, with the poets and visionaries, to indulge
in social experiment and innovation. His natural tcnjperament
and the surrounding conditions of his early manhood, placed
him by a kind of ntccssity among the strongly conservative,
iris great self-reliance and unblenching courage made him bold
in liis aims and confident as to their attainment. His unsur-
passed firmness secured an unrelenting tenacity of will, and an
unwavering perseverance in a line of action once adopt(Kl.
Tiie view which ho himself took at a later period, of liis own
general course of proceeding, is set forth in a Circular Address
to the Clergy and Laity of Upper Canada, in 1837. " I have
laboured earnestly," he says, " for nearly forty years, througli
good report ajid bad report, in promoting the peace and happi-
ness of this Province, and its attachment to the parent state.
During more than thirty-four years of that period, 1 have been
Kealously and, I trust, successfully employed in promoting the
cause of true religion, and in the discharge of the sacred duties
of a clergyman, and have uniformly acted towards all otiier
denominations with a Christian spirit, which the respectable
portion of them will readily acknowledge. I atn now approach-
iuiz; the evening of my life, and assuredly I shall never incur
tho reproach of having sacrificed any portion of the interests
of the Church to which I have the happiness to belong, in the
wild hope of conciiliating her enemies, or from the culpable
desire of avoiding the unpopularity which, it seems to be feared,
must attach to those who fairly maintain the religion of our
Sovereign and of the British empire." He had just before
been speaking of a hint thrown out by the Colonial Secretary
of the day, in respect to tho relinquishment of certain Church
4
T
' I'll
50
laiuls, Tho following passage is very characteristic : " I observe
that the letter of Lord Glenelg suggests the possibility, though
it by no means expresses an expectation or desire, that I may
be found willing to surrender, or to concur in surrendering,
voluntarily, the endowments which the King has annexed to
the rectories. Happily, the provident caution of Parliament
has not left it in the power of any individual to be the instru-
ment of so much injustice. It is not in my discretion to make
any surrender of the kind. If it were, I believe it would not
be necessary to assure any one who is pereonally acquainted
with me, that I would as readily surrender my life."
In this vigorous and very real " non possumus,''^ we have
tlie key note of his life. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to
deny that there was largeness in his views. Occasionally a
policy was lu-oaclicd by iiim almost as elastic as that of Burke;
and ideas are promulgated greatly surpassing in liberality those
of Ids schotd within the four seas at home. Unluckily for him,
it, happened that the >;rowth of constitutional liberty in the
British Islands and abroad — a growih to this day as irrepressi-
ble in depth and height and breadth as that of the roots and
branches of a forest tree — demanded social readjustments to an
extent unforeseen by him, and in directions not contemplated
in his 6ch' inos.
In the Christian lieconler, now before us, no protest is
entered by the e'Jitor against the resolutions of the Canadian
Council on the subject of education, presented to Lord
Dorc'liester in 17Sl>. The fifth and sixth of the resolutions
r'.in thus : " Fifth, That it is expedient to erect a colle-
giate institution for cultivating the liberal arts and sciences
usually taught in the European univei-sities, the theology of
Christians excepted, on account of the mixture of the two
connnunions [Clallican and Anglican], whose joint aid is desi-
rable, as tar as they agree, and who ought to be left to find a
separate provision for the candidates in the ministry of their
respective cliurches. Sixth, That it is essential to the origin
and success of such an institution, I at a society be incorpora-
ted for the purpose, and that the charter wisely provide against
the perversion of the institution to any sectarian peculiarities,
51
leaving free scope for cultivating the circle of the sciences." —
Vol. i. p. 448.
Again, in the same work, the sentiments expressed in 1819
are in harmony with these resolutions. " I hope," the editor
says, "that it [the university] will be founded upon a very
liberal scale, so that all denominations of Christians may be
enabled, without any sacrifice of conscience or of feeling, to
attend the prelections of the different professors." — Ihid, vol. i.
p. 176. At page 368, a correspondent, in a tone of complaint,
remarks: "I should not have known, Mr. Editor, by the
Recorder, whether you belong to the Church of England or
not, you have cultivated so carefully the candour of modern
times Perhaps you consider this a praise, but I, who am old-
fixshioned, think," &c.
And again, in the speech delivered by Dr. Strachan, at the
opening of King's College, in 1844, it is held that the original
charter was singularly liberal : " It was considered," ho says,
*' not only the most open charter for a university that had ever
been granted, but the most liberal that could be framed on
constitutional principles ; and His Majesty's Government de-
clared that in passing it, they .had gone to the utmost liinit of
conncmxon.''''— Proceedings at the Ceremony of Laying the Foun-
dation stone, cfec, p. 30. As we have seen already, however,
assent was given, in 1342, to a charter of a very different tone,
under which the institution was now opening. This again is
concurred in as an inevitable concession. It is at the same
moment frankly, declared that "parents not of the Church of
England have the right to expect that theii c; lldrcn who come
for instruction at this institution shall not be tampered with.
Such a right, accordingly," it is promised, " will be conscien-
tiously respected ; and dispensations will be given from attend-
ing chapel, to those pupils whoso parents and guardians require
them (p. 51) ; and when students have finished their regular
univei*sity course, and proceeded to their degree, such as design
to stud} for the ministry of the Church of England will place
themselves more especially under the professor of theology,
while the youth of other denominations will depart to prepare
for their respective professions" (p. 52).
II
62
I'llii^
)' II
i'<\
The process suggested is simple ; but it will be seen that the
fundamental gravamen is not removed. The genius of modern
complex British society everywhere is not recognized in one of
its most ineradicable traits. Its component subdivisions, like
individual men in a free commonwealth, will not receive even
gifts at each others' hands, if they wear the guise of condescen-
sions or favours. This fact, which is essential, is either ignored
or not grasped.
"We now approach that portion of the career of Dr. Strachan
which commanded the admiration of opponents as well as
friends, and from which in history the chief lustre of his name
will be reflected.
In 1825, he had been appoir.tcd Archdeacon of York. In
1S39, he became Bishop of Toronto ; not elected by the suf-
frages of the clergy and laity, as is the custom now, but nomi-
nated to the office by the Crown, and consecrated in England
by the Archbishop of Canterbury. His administrative and
executive talent now found a wide and appropriate field of
action. Tlie Anglican Church in AV^estcrn Canada, then wholly
embraced in his diocese, soon began to ftel the vigour of tlie
hand at the helm. His first measure was the institution of a
Church Society, coextensive with his diocese, which, in the
absence of legitimate synodical machinery, nut then in exis-
tence, might serve to give unity, in some degree, to the elForts
of clergy and laity. According to iiis Pastoral on the subject,
issued in 1842, each congregation was to regard itself as a dis-
tinct missionary society, its pastor and churchwardens and
more zealous members forming a local association, exerting all
their influence to bring within the pale of tlie general Society
every baptised person in their bounds. " The Society will in
this way embnace within its bosom every grown-up son and
daughter of the Church throughout the whole diocese, and give
utterance to her voice on ail necessary occasions. Its members
will henceforth feel that tliey belong not merely to a small,
remote and perhaps insulated congregation, but that they are
intimately connected with all the congregations of the diocese,
and not of this diocese alone, but of all the dioceses which com-
prise the Church of England throughout the world." All were
53
to contribute, through the Society, to the maintenance of mis-
sionaries in new settl-r^ments and among tlie Indians ; to the
circulation of the Scriptures, and Common Prayer Book, and
approved theological works ; to the support of Sunday and
parochial schools, the succour of the widows and orphans of the
clergy, and to the assistance of students in divinity. Moreover,
landed endowments were to be secured and held, through this
association, for the support of their bishop and his cathedral ;
for archdeacons and other clergy now employed or to be em-
ployed ; for the building of churches and parsonage-houses of
durable materials, and for the insurance of the same. " The
diocese of Toronto," thus runs the Pastoral, " will very soon
contain four hundred townships, each of which may average
one hundred square miles — an extent equal to nearly twenty
ordinary parishes in England. 13ut such a minute division it
would be in vain to attempt ; nor will it for many ages be
required by the population. Limiting, then, our contemi)lated
division, for the present, to two parishes in each townsliip, the
difficulty of endowing them does Jiot seem particularly ardu-
ous. A townshi[» contains about sixty-six tliousand acres, or
tin'ce hundred and thirty 1 or farms of two hundred .'icres
each. Now, fur the endowment of two parishes, six lots, (m-
twelve hundred acres, will be rcipiircil. allowing eafli three
lots, or six hundred acres. Is it not pi'ob;il)l('," the siiiguino
bisiiop asks, " thtit in almost every town.-iii[) r^ix or eight lots
or farms, whieli is scarcely a fiftieth part of the whole, wil' ho
granted by piuus individuals for a purpose so lilessed^ Jn
many townships much more will doubtless be g en, and this
will make up for deticiencies in others, where less liberality
prevails, or perhaps wliere we have fewer people."
Had it been possible to breathe into the mass of th( ^ aglican
laity the earnest spirit of their ecclesiastical chief, the recent
frustration of the will of kings and princes would have proved
but a slight injury. Tlio Anglican laity, however, in a new
community are not very impressilde ; they are not quick to be
enthusiastic in respect to their own ecclesiastical interests. The
battle for the reserve-lands had really not interested the mtdti-
tude. So far as they were concerned, it was left to be fought
T
TSEB
BBi
Hi
li '
I-;*
r
64
out by tUeir champion in single-handed fashion, assisted by a
few acting under his special direction. The mass dumbl}--
looked on, comprehending perhaps but vaguely the points at
issue. In the parent state the Anglican laity are accustomed
to have every requisite supplied to them without effort or
thought on their part. They have only of late yeai-s heard
tiuit the proceeds of rates and endovvnionts do ^'.zt absolve
individuals from a religious concern in the fabric and multipli-
cation of churches and schools. Adult njcn and women of the
Anglican communion, emigrating from the British Islands, are
consequently often taken by surprise when they are informed
in their new home of the multiplicity of ecclesiastical cares that
appertain to them. It is a novelty with the bulk of them Uy
be called on to take part in the building and rei)air of churches ;
in the encouragement of candidates for Holy Orders ; in the
maintenance of clergy, superior and inferior, with their orphans
and widows.
Xeverthelcss the appeal of the bishop was responded to by
many gifts. Wherever he presented himself in his tours
throughout the diocese the eifect of his own personal intluence
and example was felt, especially among the older colonists who
would in some instances devote as a tribute to the dauntlesa
energy of their spiritual chief offerings which the cause in the
abstract might not have Sufficed to draw forth. Col. Burwell of
Port Burwell founded a Living with church and parsonage cojn-
plete, at that place ; and presented in addition more than a thou-
sand acres as glebes to various clnu-ches. At the close of the
iirst year of the Society's existence we find j)resonted to it in the
Niagara district, for example, two thousand three hundred and
twelve acres ; in the Midland district, two thousand two hun-
dred and twenty -one acres ; in the London, Brock, Talbot and
Ilnrou district, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven
acres; in tiie Newcastle district, one thousand acres; in the
IFonie district, two thousand six hundred and thirty-four acres.
In addition lo these donatio is in land, which are selected as
examples, considerable sums of money as annual subscriptions
were giuvrunteed. The bishop himself gave one thousand acres
towards an endowment for the see and cathedral.
55
In 1839, the year of his consecration, but a few ^eeks prior
to that event, a trying disaster occurred. This was tlie destruc-
tion by lire of the church which was about to become the
cathedral of tlie diocese. It was a large structure of stone,
built and arranged after the model of the English cathedral at
Quebec, and the old Ciu'ist Church of Montreal, when situate in
Notre Dame street. The wooden church that liad preceded it,
moTe fortunate in its liistory than its less combustible successor,
had been erected in jiart in 1803, enlarged and completed in
1818, and then quietly taken to pieces and removed in 1833,
M'hen the stone edifice was finished. The sudden destruction
of the new building after an existence of only six years, vvas
I'ust one of those discouraffinu blows that served to draw out
the energies of Dr. Strachan, and to disclose the wealth of
resource that was in him to M'hich the Anglican communion
in Canada was so often indebted. Within two days after the
fire wo find it recorded that, at a public meeting at the City
TIall, "the Venerable the Archdeacon, with a spirit bowed but
not broken by this great calamity, presented a luminous report
embracing a plan for the restoration of the sacred edifice to its
former commodiousness and beauty.'''
On his return the following November after his consecration
at Lambeth, the siglit that greeted him as he entered the
harbour of his episcopal city, was his cathedral restored, more
complete than ever, fur appended to it now was a conspicuous
tower and spire, at its apex a golden cross glittering against
the sky.
Ten years later this renovated and finished building ])ccame
an irretrievable ruin in a terrible conflagration which consume d
a large portion of Toronto.
Again, with singular promptness was the loss repaired through
the unity and decision gcnerateii in a large congregation by
the bishop's force of character. And on this occasi(»n a great
advance was made in dignity of architecture, increasing projior-
tionably tlie magnitude of the undertaking. The preceding
edifices had been oblong rectangular blocks pierced withronnd-
headed windows, convenient and spacious, but without appro-
priateness of expression. Xow, an edifice was put up in accord-
w
-n
56
ance with later and juster ideas, fine in outline, capable of being
adapted to English cathedral customs ; an edifice destined, as
it has happened in a manner wholly unforeseen, to be regarded
in future ages with a religious reverence as the mausoleum of
its founder, — the founder, it may be said, of two, if not three
costly predecessors on the same site. Tiiough no other memo-
rial should mark his resting-place before the altar of St. James's,
Toronto, St. James's itself would suffice —
Si monujnikntum bequikis, cikcl'mspioe.
But here we are again anticipating. One other instance of
recuperative power in the first bishop of Toronto remains to be
referred to ; the crowning instance which will inspire posterity,
as it inspired cotemporaries, with unfeigned respect. .
In 1850 the great educational institution called into visible
being tlirough the instrumentality of Dr. Strachan underwent
the final cliange which the public policy of the modern empire of
(ireut Britain rendered inevitable. King's College was convert-
ed into the University of Toronto, and became an institution
accommodated in the only practicable way to the educational
wants of a community like that of Western Canada.
The last semblance of connexion between the provincial
university and the Anglican Church, as such, having been
removed, the bishoj» conceived the bold idea of establishing a
new university in relation to which tiieresliould be no (juostion
in the future as to the supremacy of the Anglican Church with-
in its walls.
"An old man broken with the storms of state" was not to
be said of him. lie had now indeed passed considerably beyond
the normal three sore years and ten ; but his strength of will
and vigour of mind and body were unabated. The Itlade was
metal to the back.
After a stirring appeal to the laity of his own dii>ccsc, res-
[>ouded to by gifts and promises of money or lands to the
amount of some thirty thousand pounds, he embarks for Kng-
land, lays his case before the two great religious societies there,
before the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, before many
of the bisliops and clergy, and those members of the laity that
6r
are wont to interest themselves in matters connected with
"churcli-edneation." He at the same time makes application
through the Colonial Secretary, Lord Grey, for a Royal Charter
for the proposed institution.
He left Toronto in April. He is home again on tlio second
day of the following Novemher. The immediate }iold of the
excursion was about sixteen thousand pounds sterling ; and
" had I been able " the bishop himself declared in a sjjcech
shortly after his return — " had I been able to remain six or
eight months longer in England, to preach and hold n^eetings
in tlie large towns, and make my object more generally known,
I verily believe that I should have realized more than double
the amount received."
The circular to the English public, issued on this occasion,
by a committee of friends, among whose names that of ' W. E.
Gladstone ' is to ho seen, contains the following paragraph : —
" Tiie aged bishop of the diocese, having to begin anew the
work whicli has occupied a half a century of his life, has come
to Eiighmd to obtain assistance from his brethren in the faith.
Among other distinguished persons from whom he has already
met with the most marked sympathy and encouragement, l^e
has a melancholy satislaction in referring to the ilhistrious
statesman whom Providence has so recently removed from the
scene of his labours and his usefulness [Sir Kobert Peel], as
well as to his Grace the Duke of Wellington, who has iiromised
to become u liberal benefactor to the Fund he proposes to raise."
On the 17th of March, TS51, the excavations for the founda-
tion of the new institution began. On the oOth of April its
corner-stone was laid. On the loth of January 1852, the
building was sufficientlly completed to bo occu])ied. On that
day the institution opened. It bore the name of Trinity Col-
lege- A provost and two professors, members of the English
Universities, had arrived to mould ami inaugurate a svstem of
instruction. In 1853 a Royal Charter was issued incorporating
the College and declaring that it "shall bo deemed and taken
to be a University; and shall have and enjoy all such and the
like jirivilegcs as are enji^ved by our universities of our llnited
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as far a? the same are
'ill
I!
m
in\
'!>
It is!
If ^ '
^■4
58
capable of being had or enjoyed bj virtue of these onr Letters
Patent."
Tlie Anglican communion in Western Canada was thus,
through the persistent energy of its resolute bishop, put in
possession of an institution for the training of its clergy, and
for the higher education of such of its members as were or should
be willing to place themselves under a discipline of the antique
type. The institution was, as we liave seen, endowed by the joint
offerings of individuals and corporations in the mt)ther country
and in Canada; contributions to the same object ilowing in
also from the sister Church in the United States, at the instance
of a Canadian presbyter thither despatched, whoso advocacy of
the new College in that country, a-i sul)se(piently in England
also, elicited considerable sums of money for the augmentation
of its funds.
With an educational endowment so procured, there will of
course never be any thought of interference on tlio part of
statesmen. It is morally certain there would never have been
an interference with a modest endowment even from the waste
lands of the Crown, when such lands were abundant in Canada,
had it been competent, which it may not have been, except on
the ground of expediency, for the representatives of the Angli-
can Church, at the time of the organization of Upper Canada,
to have assumed for that Church simply the status which it at
present occupies.
It should be added that the subject of Schools, to be under
the exclusive control of the iV^glitJan clergy in Canada, was
also mooted from time to time in charges and synodal addresses;
but as this was a project in which it was found impossible to
inspire an interest to any influential degree among the Angli-
can laity, its discussion was permitted to drop. Tlie establish-
ment of such schools by authority of Parliament is of necessity
out of the question, now that the political theories of which
such schools were a consistent part are, as we have again and
again seen, given up. Unless, therefore, the Anglican clergy
can carry with them the bulk of the Anglican laity, inducing
them to tax themselves liberally and systematically in addition
to the rates paid by them already for the erection and main-
69
tenance of schools, it is sitnply a social irritation to keep up
reclamations on the sulvjcct. The bulk of the Aii*;lican laity
in Canada have somewhere learnt to be peaceable citizens, and
knowing that the present system of Public Education is in its
general plan the only one pi'acticablo under the circumstances,
they show that in the main they are satisfied with it. In the
matter of a distinctive Anglican training — in addition to the
careful working of Sunday schools — much could be fairly done
by rendering discourses in the pulpit and lecture-desk interest-
ing and instructive to the young. Such discourses, well studied
out and managed with tact, do not fail to interest and instruct
men aiul women of all ages. And this is a part of the conuuis-
sion " to disciple," which perhaps it may not be right to dele-
gate to schools.
There remained one great project more still to be accom-
plished: this was the establishment of a systematic organiza-
tion for the ecclesiastical body over which he presided.
The diocesan society which had already been instituted, did
not, as a nuitter of conscience, endjrace every member of the
clergy and laity of the Anglican communion. It was a volun-
tary society, which any one might or might not support. An
authoritative institution for the whole Church was wanting,
such as the early Christian societies in Asia and Europe pos-
sessed. " When the lay members of the Church in any colonial
diocese number more than two hundred thousand, and the
clergy one hundred and fifty, scattered over a vast region, and
thus much separated from one another, it must needs be that
dillicnlties and oifonces will arise ; and how are they to be dealt
with V This is the question asked by the Bishop of Toronto,
in his charge of ISoI. "The bishop is in most cases power-
less," he continues, " having indeed jurisdiction by his royal
appointment and divine commission, but he has no tribunals
to try cases, and to acquit or punish, as the case may be. lie
therefore feels himself frequently weak, and unable to correct
reckless insubordination and sullen opposition, even in matters
spiritual. At one time he may be accused of feebleness and
irresolution ; at another, when acting with some vigour, he may
be denounced as tyranni'-.! and despotic. On such occasions,
1^
S&i
h
'%
I
60
lie requires the support and refreshing counsel of his hrethreii,
and their constitutional co-operation, in devising and maturing
i<uch measures as may be thought necessary to adopt for the
welfare of the Church."
Still adhering to the old political theories ul' En;;;l!in;], it \v;is
imaii'ined by some tliat the Anglican Church in a Canadian
diocese might not assemble itself together for the purpose of
determining regulations for its own internal government, with-
out permission obtained from the supreme head of the mother
Ciiurch.
To be certain on this point, an Act of the Provincial Parlia-
ment was procured, declaring it to be lawful for "the bishops,
cleri>;y and laity, members of the United Church of England
and Ireland, in the Province of Canada, to meet in their
several dioceses, which are now or may be hereafter constituted
in this Province, and in such manner and by such proceedings
as they shall adopt, frame constitutions and make regulations
for enforcing discipline in the Church ; for the appointment,
deposition, deprivation or removal of any person bearing office
therein, of whatever order or degree, any rights of the Crown
to the contrary notwithstanding ; and for the convenient and
orderly management of tlie property, atialrs and interests of
the Church In matters relating to and affecting only the said
Church and tiie olKcers and members thereof, and not in any
manner interfering with the rights, privileges or interests of
otiier religi(»us coimnunities, or of any jierson or persons not
being a member or members of the said United Church of
iMiglaiul and Ireland : provided always, that such constitutions
and regulations sljall apply only to the diocese or dioceses
a(U)ptlng the same."— 19, 20 Vic. c. 121.
P>efore the passing of this Act, however, the triennial visita-
tions of the bishop had assumed the form of convocations or
synods, including lay-representatves elected by the several con-
gregations. In the first meeting of this kind, resolutions had
been adopted rcttive to the residue of the lands for Public
"Worship, relative to the legalizing of synodical meetings, and
relative to the establishment of separate schools when possible.
In the second, it was decided to adopt the style and title of
Gl
Synod, as a matter of inherent right ; and steps were taken to
prepare the way for the division of the diocese of Toronto into
two or three bishoprics, and for the setting-off of parishes in the
respective dioceses : tlie synod was declared to be perpetual,
and a standing-committee of twenty-four, half cleric and half
laic, was appointed to act in concert with the Bishop while the
Synod was not in session.
To the Bishop of Toronto the honour thus belongs of being
the first practically to solve the difficulty which in theory besets
the admission of lay members into Anglican synods. His ex-
ample has been widely followed in diiferent quarters of the
empire ; and it is probable that the custom thus inaugurated
in a colony will one day prevail within the dioceses of the
mother-church. Of course, there, great prejudices have to bo
surmounted. AVe happen ourselves to have been present in
the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster, when such an inno-
vation was mooted : to r owing as we did, what a reasonable
thing in practice the ci. van seemed, it was curious to hear the
consecpiences which imagination conjured up as objections to
its adoi)tion in England. The modern church-congresses of
England have also grown out of the successful colonial experi-
ment and aro pointing the same way, namely, to lay represen-
tation in the councils of the Anglican Church.
And who can doubt but that a Convocation reformed and
made real, and diocesan synods reformed and made real, with
tlie lay element judiciously but frankly admitted, would bring-
back a fresh youth to the ancient Mother at home ? "What is
the secret of the anarchy of late yeai's in the ancient historic
Anglican church, in respect to doctrine and practice? Is it
not the absence of constitutional government ? It is obvious
to the casual visitor, there is no system observed in the work-
ing of that body as a whole, binding its parts together. Each
beneficed presbyter nuay do as he wills. He feels himself
amenable to no central delegation representing the body of
which he is a local functionary. In every denomination but
that /which takes its name from an episcopate, there is a real
episcopacy, an episcopacy without mystery. We mean that
every Non-conformist body exercises over its members, official
II
62
p4*
\m
If i>
I
4L
and non-official, a superintendence that may be felt. Whilst
in the ancient Anglican communion, there is at present vir-
tually no government. What, again, has led to the alienation
of large masses of the people from the historic church, not-
•withstanding its powerful prescriptive claims ? Has it not been
the absence, now for a long series of years, of a representative
assembly, sympathizing with the people, and having the power
and will to deal from time to time, frankly and considerately,
with grievances as they have arisen ? Without a parliament
really legislating for the people generation ailer generation,
rationally and justly, in what condition would bo the civil
aftairs of the parent state ? AVith the Anglican communion
in Canada and the other dependencies of England, it rests, to
aid or hinder, as the years roll on, the renovation of the
parent-communion at home : to aid, if by a steady and careful
acquisition of intelligence on the part of clergy and laity,
synods, general and particular, be rendered fair representative
bodies : to hinder, if by the repression of intelligence and the
inculcation of theories that are impracticable, they beconii; in
their proceedings visibly one-sided.
During the brief residue of his lifetime, the Bishop of
Toronto saw two additional dioceses set off from his own ; one
consisting of its western extremity, the other of its eastern ;
each organized from its commencement with a synod similar to
that which had been inaugurated by himself.
Moi'eover, he lived to see these three, together with the
dioceses of Quebec and Montreal, combined together into an
Ecclesiastical Province, with a metropolitan at their head,
nominated by the Crown, and all empowered to meet in a
Provincial Synod, clergy and laity by representation, for the
consideration of matters relating to the Provincial Church as
a whole ; and on two occasions it was granted him to take an
active part in the deliberations of this Provincial Council.
And further, he lived to see carried into eft'ect, a wider
combination still, which he had himself suggested and sketched
some seven years before. In his Charge for 1860, after speak-
ing of the " proper alterations and modifications" which were
needed in the ancient constitution of the Convocation of the
\
63
Anglican Clmrch, in order " to meet the improved knowledge
and civilization of the present times," and that it might be
brought into working order, ho adds : " The assembling of such
a Convocation, representing the United Church of England
and Ireland, would offer a splendid spectacle ; and if occasional
access in the way of deputation from our colonies and the
Church of the tJuitcd States were encouraged, it would present
the most august legislature that the Christian world has ever
yet beheld ; and although much will require to bo -'one before
this sublime convocation can be brought to bear, yet there are
no insurmountable obstacles in the waj."
A convocation, less comprehensive, indeed, than the one of
which an outline is here drawn, but approximating to it, was
actually to be seen in the Conference of Bishops of the Angli-
can conmiuuion at Laml)eth, in 18fi7, when, out of sovcnt}'-
eight prelates assembled, forty-four were from dioceses exterior
to the British empire.
There was a peculiar fitness in the fact that, of the scries of
projects for the well-being of the Anglican Church, which had
engaged the bisliop's mind throughout a long life, the remark-
able Conference at Lambeth should have been the last.
The interest which he took in the proceedings of this council
was very great. It was deeply touching to witness the reluc-
tance with which he brought himself to believe that the infir-
mities incident to an age now extending beyond ninety-one
years, forbade his being present at it. With the instinctive
consciousness of one formed to be a legislator and judge, he
was profoundly convinced that in such an assembly his ideas
would have been of weiijht and value.
It happened to oui-selves to be fully cognizant of his lively
interest In this as in other things, persons and places, to within
a very few days of his departure hence.
AVith the curiosity of a youthful student, he entered into
the details of tiie great Exhibition at Paris, and other varied
particulars of a jirolonged visit to the mother country, Swit-
zerland and Germany, with accounts of conversations had
with distinguished persons to whom he had himself furnished
letters ; all of whom, it may be added, were found to keep in
•I
I
#
Ti'
. 04
memory very distinctly and affectionately the impression made
on tliemselvos by his own strong character, years ago.
The appointment of a coadjutor had been long resisted, as
an expedient naturally repugnant to his temperament and
mould of mind. It was only just before the last year of his
life tliat such assistance was accepted ; and at the moment of
his decease, the colleague elected by his Synod had not yet
retur.ied from the Conference at Lambeth. So that after all,
the great bishop died as he had preferred to do, with his hand
solely on the hcua. In this last brief interval of his episcopate,
+lie nyoasures adopted and pastorals issued were stamped with
the vigour and decision of his best days. Of the former, one
was for the establishment of an Infirmary ; of the latter, one
was for the observance of a Public Day of Thanksgiving. It
has been somewhere said, *■' Stantevi mori Ducevi oj>ortef,
E2)isco2)(tm co7ielo?ianti'my Both conditions were satisfied in
the i^'uniise of the first Bishop of Toronto. As a leader of his
division, he was found at its head, with his iirmour on ; and to
the last, his voice was to be heard, not seldom, in the pul[)it of
one or other of tho churches of his ciithedral city, or addressing
large companies of the newly confirmed.
It has often been afKrmed that every worthy human life is a
drama — a poc.i; and that "every man truly lives so hmg as
he acts his nature, and some way malces good the faculties of
himself We have been reviewing a career of the kind here
described ; a life unusually complete, with strongly marked
beginning, middle and close, earnestly occupied throughout
with the most important hunuxn affairs. We have seen an
early unfolding of special powers and aptitudes, and a grand
ambitiou awakened by the consciousness of their possession ;
aspirations, as they proved themselves to be in the event, based
on the nature of things. "VVe have seen a discipline undergone ;
a discipline of long delays, of disappointment upon disappoint-
ment ; each issuing in a clearer demonstration of the virtue of
the man ; of the genuineness of his faith, his hope, his self-
control, his fortitude. Finally, we have seen tho experience
gained in the school of adversity practically applied in the
period of prosperity, and every successive elevation- in position,
1
as
r<fone ;
)p()int-
i-tuo of
IS self-
}rience
m the
iBitioii,
65
and every additional honor attained, used, not for the further-
ance of petty or personal ends, but as a new vantage-ground
for securing good to men on the widest scale and for the longest
possible period.
We have not touched upon private sorrows, all along min-
gling plentifully with the stream of outward, visible history ;
bereavements severing at last almost every earthly tie, and
leaving their subject, in respect to blood-relationship, all but
alone ; although in other respects s iriuunded by
" that which should accompany old age,
As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends."
Hear, however, the noble bishop himself speak: "My life,"
he says, in 18G0, " has doubtless been laborious, and, I believe,
intcrspread by a larger number of vicissitudes than usually
hapi)cn to individuals; but it has on the whole been happy.
And now, when near the close, I can look back without any
startling convictions, and forward with increasing hope." —
Chai-gc, 1800, p. 4.
To the student of humanity, and of diviiuty too, how beau-
tiful and how consolatory is such a declaration ! To the prime
blessing of an organization of the best cpiality, was added
uninterrupted health, and a constitutional imperturbability.
His was one of tiiose strongly-braced intellects that can rise
superior to troubles which crush the hearts of ordinary men.
As often as the emergency presented itself, he could summon
to his aid the reflection —
'"Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake
That virtue must go through. "We must not stint
Our necessary actions, in the fear
To cope malicious censurers, which ever,
As ravenous fishes, do a vessel follow
That is new-trimm'd, but benefit no farther
Than vainly longing."
He had the power to pass at will from one train of thought to
another, and so divest himself of a mental burden. "What a
sense was there of cerebral cobwebs shaken otf, for others as
as well as himself, in the sound of his brief, explosive, hearty
laugh, suddenly heard above the murmur of conversation in
5
!B!^"W^^^.-^iHWillllPlB*IPB»
66
I
m^
intervals of business at synodal or eociety meetings, after
dreary discnssions, threatening at times to be interminable.
It was this superiority to the tnals common to men that made
him the stay he was found to be by many, when involved in
serious perplexity and distress. Courageous himself, he inspired
courage in others. Of the griefs laid before him, he discovered
some view that was hopeful. He often saw something in rela-
tion to them, which the immediate suiferer did not. He thus
often sent away from him with a lightened heart, those that
had come to him desponding. The burden that had bowed
them seemed half removed by being disclosed to him. For
one, we huppen to know that the illustrious Bishop Doane, of
New Jersey, wlien hunted down so unrelentingly towards the
close of liio life, expressed the deepest thankfulness for an
interview with tlie Bishop of Toronto, who suggested to him
considerations of great moment as well as comfort, in the ordeal
through which he was passing.
It was words of cheer like these, widely scattered, added to
deeds unnumbered of a kindred nature, throughout a long life,
that caused the decease of the first Bishop of Toronto to be
mourned with a real grief. His loss was felt by very many to
be like that which Boswell describes the friends of Dr. Johnson
as experiencing, when that sturdy character was taken away
from amongst them : " He has made a chasm which not only
nothing can till up, but which nothing has a tendency to fill
up. Johnson is dead. Let us go to the uext best : there is
nobody. Xo man can be said to put the world in mind of
Johnson." — Life, iv. 284.
For several years before his departure hence, his well-known
form, caught sight of in thti streets or at public gatherings
for patriotic or benevolent purposes, had been regarded and
saluted with the same kind of universal interest that used to
accompany the great Duke towards the end of his career, in
the parks and squares of London.
The brave part he had taken in the past history of Canada
was remembered, and this spontaneously begat the esteem
even of those whose politics and theology were different from
his. There was an unaffected appreciation of liis presence
67
erings
3(1 U!ld
isod to
•CLT, in
an ad a
esteem
it from
cscnce
wherever he chose to show himself. His real kindliness and
breadth of character were discerned. His many acts and words
of good will and good humour, as known either by experience
or tradition, were parts of the common stock from whicli much
of Canadian conversation was supplied. All this will account
for the vast multitude that sought to do honour to his obsequies ;
will account for the marked and peculiar reverence then mani-
fested on the part of the whole city that had grown up around
his home, and the three dioceses which his own hand had
shaped ; as well as for the real love and affection, as of sons for a
father, evinced by individuals on that ever-memorable occasion.
His eyesight to the last was wonderfully unimpaired. The
principal aid that it required was manuscript in large charac-
ters. " Mark ye with what large letters I have written to you
in my own hand," one greater than a bishop once had occasion
to say to his people. Many of the later documents, whose
contents were reverently listened to and marked by the clergy
and laity of the diocese of Toronto, were thus patiently pre-
pared in a bold legible text by their chief pastor's hand. But
ordinarily his writing was unusually minute, densely filling
folio pages of record and report.
Thoughtful and cultivated minds were always arrested by
his sermons. In their conception and utterance, it was imme-
diately evident that the ardour of the divine was chastened by
the candour of the philosopher, and regulated by the method
of the mathematiciaii. Their matter was invariably solid, and
pregnant with meaning, and never insipid. If not marked by
the brilliancy of genius, or any elaborate artifices of rhetoric,
their language was always vigorous and directly to the point.
Of his pulpit stylo, as formed half-a-century ago, we have
several examples in the Christian Recorder. We transcribe
one, which sounds like himself at any period of his career: —
" In human affairs, do wo not consider the acts of the repre-
sentative as performed by the person he represents? "Without
this, the attairs of society, and on many occasions the affaire
even of individuals, could never be carried on. But, further
than this, even in the administration of justice, if one peraon
represent and act for another, why may he not likewise suffer
(
68
Nti
\n
■i
for him, particularly when he consents to do so, and the admin-
istration of justice is willing to accept him ? Have M'e reason
to infer, that if a representative, abler than the sinner or person
represented, was to offer himself, and who is not only willing
to suffer the penalty threatened by the divine law ; have we
not reason, I say, to infer that such a representative would be
graciously admitted, and that the merited punishment would
be transferred to him, and even the impending >vrath of heaven
would be averted, and the joyful tidings of pardon and eternal
hope proclaimed to every sincere penitent ? In fine, the trans-
lation of punishment, so far from being contradictory, is entirely
agreeable to reason, and the guilty person may escai)e by the
sufferings of another substituted in his room. To apply this
reasoning more particularly, we have to remark that the condi-
tion of our blessed Lord was such as rendered the sufferings
which he sustained for us fully answerable to all tlie punish-
ments that would have been inflicted on sinners. By his
feulTerings, every end was accomplished that could have been
promoted by the ]>ersonal sufferings of the offenders. He was
a blessed person, of infinite dignity and excellence, and might
not only bo jus^tly accepted on our behalf, but by this oblation
satisfaction for the guilt was fully obtained, and the forgiveness
of sins and the hopes of a blessed immortality extended ; and
all this perfectly consistent with the divine perfections, and
with the order and dignity of God's moral government." —
Christiaii Recorder^ vol. i. pp. 175-0.
In the same tone and strain we find him discoursing in ISGO:
" Without entering further into the distinction between natu-
ral and revealed religion, which I believe will gradually disap-
pear as we advance in knowledge, I will merely observe that
the moat mysterious parts of the gospel will be found essen-
tially connected vith the nature and government of God.
Hence it is no mark of wisdom to desjjise the resources of
human reason, and still less to slight the light of the revelation
which can alone conduct our reason to just and profitable con-
clusions, lloason is the compass by which we steer our course,
and revelation the polar sr^ir by wliich we correct its variations.
The Scriptures, generally speaking, do not reason, but exhort
69
and remonstrate. Nor do they attempt to fetter the judgment
by the subtleties of argument, but to raise the feelings by
appealing to plain matters of fact. Now this is what might
have been expected from teachers acting under a commission,
and armed by undeniable facts to enforce their admonitions.
But though there is no regular treatise in the holy Scriptures
on any one branch of religious doctrine, yet all the materials
of a regular system are to be found there. The word of God
contains the doctrines of religion in the same way as the system
of nature contains the elements of physical science. In both
cases the doctrines are deduced from the facts, which arc not
presented to us in any regular order, and must bo classified
before wc can arrive at first principles. TIence those who
Avould teach natural religion with profit, must arrang. ihe facts
which it offers into a system ; and they who would explain
the wavs of God must arrancre the materials which are so
aiiiidy furnished in the Bible, but which are presented a[)pa-
rently without [tlan or order. I would therefore consider all
objections to systems of divinity to be as unreasonable as it
would be to object to the philosophy of Newton, for having
elucidated tiie laws uf nature and arranged the phenomena of
the heavens. The ways of God are very complicated, as we all
foci, and the manifestations of His will so infinitely diversified
as at times to app(>ar opposed to each other. Hence it is oidy
by an eidarged view of His ])rovidence, that wc can see the
beautif^s and esfiinate the value of that revelation whicli He
has given us. It is a gre/it mistal.e to suppose that revelation
has been givcMi to save us the trouble of thinking. Its object
is to teach us to think aright; to prevent the waste and misap-
jilication of our faculties, but not to supersede their exercise.
And though I am persuailed that no degree of study would
ever have enabled man to arrive at accurate conceptions of
God and His government without the aid of revelation, 1 am
no less certain that revelation itself will not endue men with
religious knowledge without study, meditation and reflection."
—ifinnje, ISr.O, pp. 20-22.
The scene in the cathedral-church, on the delivery of a triennial
Cliarge in former days, while yet the whole of Western Canada
TO
formed tlie diocese of Toronto, will never be forgotten by per-
sons present at it. It was as nearly as possible a reproduction
of what we can conceive to have been the spectacle at a basilica
of the old imperial days on a corresponding occasion. There
was the episcopal chair, placed for the time being in the midst
of the chancel, with its venerable and venerated occupant, tho
centre of all regards ; before him a throng of presbyters, many
of them literally as well as officially seniors, scarred and fur-
rov.'cd by toil and time, with a younger brother here and there,
and deacons, interspersed, all solemnly habited, and gathered
up in a mass to the chancel steps, and all standing, waiting for
the words of one felt to be, in no mere formal sense, a father-
in-God ; of one to whom, it was on all hands believed, there
could bo no successor like or equal ; listening to his grave and
well-weighed counsels, on a witle range of subjects, with an
unfeigned attention, sheet after sheet of closely written maim-
script falliijg confusedly on the floor beside the chair for long
hours together: outside the assembled band of clerical auditors
was the adstans 2>opulus, the general laity, crowded up from
the body of tho building, or else looking down with interested
gaze from the galleries on the right and left.
From his Cliarges to the clergy could be gathered a code of
Anglican divinity, and a manual of canonical life. But while
his statements of dogma and rules for clerical ])ractice are
definite and precise, he makes them with consideration, as
knowing that the persons addressed were accustomed to great
liberty of thought and action. So far as related to himself,
the theological convictions formed at the student period of ids
life, having been happily arrived at under a wise direction,
received only more and more confirmation as years rolled on.
lie was in this maimer enabled, as he himself testified towards
tiie close of his career, to speak at all times with boldness on
the special topics connected with his ollice, and " with an
inward satisfaction and firmness of puri>osc whi(;h, under the
Divine blessing, has never changed." " I have always been
aware," he tells his clergy in ISOO, " that the best endeavour
I could make to promote unity in the Church, was to seek after
inward unity and peace in my own breast ; because it is only
71
by cherishing such graoes tliat I can give consistency to my
religious character, and cause ita influence to pervade and
penetrate the diocese, and shed abroad in it the power of faith
and charity." A profound remark, reminding ns of Lord
Bacon's words : " No pleasure is comparable to the standing
upon the vantage-ground of truth, a hill not to be commanded,
and where the air is always clear and serene ; and to see the
errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests in the vale
below ; so also tliat this prospect be with pity, and not with
swelling or pride. Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a
man's mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon
the poles of Truth."
There was a peculiar freshness and naturalness about his
l)ublished Journals of Visitation. In tliem, without losing
anything of dignity, he enlivens details which miglit be deemed
merely technical and professional, by notices of matters con-
nected with the i)hysical aspect and jirogress of the country.
His Journal of the year 181:2 was published in London, by the
Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and has
l)assed tlu'ougli several editions. The same features character-
ized his narratives of tlie acts of the year delivered in Synod.
Li the accoutit of his voyage to England in 1850, given in a
Pastoral, tlie toiu^liing story of " Poor Thomas " will be remem-
bered : a sailor on board the ship, who had been deprived of
both his legs by frost-bite. After describing with minuteness
the case, " His tine spirit endeared him," the bishop says, " to
all the passengers, and, wlien made accpiainted with liis simple
plans, a subscription of fifty pounds was raised for his benefit ;
and two gentlemen belonging to Liverpool, with true Christian
charity, engaged to see it appropriated in su'.'h a manner as to
ensure the completion of his wishes, and if necessary to supply
what might be wanting. The matter being thus satisfactorily
arranged, Thomas was made quite ha]t[)y." This combination
of a genial concern in homely, liuinan matters, and a readiness
and a[)titude for high and complicated occupations, made him
equally at his ease, wluitiier conversing witii Chinquaconse in
an Indian hut at Garden lliver, crooning to himself some old
Scottish air in the back seat of an uncouth sta^je-coach on tho
!i
Ijll
m
I i
72
Penetangniahino road, or excliangiiig courtesies with Albert
Edward, Prince of "Wales, and the gentlemen of his suite, in
the salons of Government House at Toronto. And herein he
exemplified in himself what his well-known views were, in
regard to the kind of men fitted to be " spiritual pastors and
masters" among the people of Western Canada. "It should
make no difference whether it is a log or a sofa that you sit
on," Ave once heard him say, referring to emergencies that con-
stantly occur where things are in the rough. " I know how to
content myself with earthen vessels, as my fiither did," said an
old bishop of Chichester, in 1245, when Henry III. was with-
holding the revenues of his see: "let eveiything be sold, even
to my horse, if there be need." This was the spirit of the first
Bishop of Toronto. It was this singleness of view in regard
to duty under all circumstances, that made him intrepid in the
midst of peril. The times of contagious sickness, in 1S32 and
1847, found him unflinching in his ministrations. In the keep-
ing of ajipointments, too, the same fearlessness was sure to bo
seen. We ourselves well remember an instance of this, Avhcn,
night and rough weatiier rendering a long pull in an open boat
on tlie river at the Sault Ste. Marie by no means a trifling
matter, the stand taken in respect to a distant engagement
rt as in almost the identical terms used by the Roman general
of old: "It is not necessary for me to live, but it is nccesffary
for me to go."
In the printed remains to which reference has been made, it
is curious to observe, also, with what a well sustained interest
the vigour and earnestness of the writer or speaker always
eiuvbled h'un to invest the history of the lands set apart for
Public Worship atid Public Education in Canada. There is
Wonderfully little self-repetition in the multiplied statements
of his case in speeches, reports, pastorals and petitions. Of a
spirit which ever led him to "rank himself with princes," he
addressed, besides these, several characteristic letters from time
to tiiue to prominent personages at home and on this conti-
nent, on public occasions. In 1815, there was one to Jefterson ;
in 1810, one to the Earl of Selkirk; in 1832, one to Dr.
Chalmers; in 1851, to Lord John Russell. In these, as also
\
73
in his controversial correspondence with statesmen and others
on great questions of the day, lie wiekled ar^ pen which coukl
prove itself sufficiently trenchant whenever there was a neccs
sity. On the perusal of these production^, the reader familiar
with Plutarch will be reminded not unfrerjuently of the policy
of the elder Cato, who, wo are told, " in engagements would
strike boldly, Avithout flinching j stand firm to his ground; flx
a bold countenance upon his enemies, and with a harsh, tlirc{\-
tening voice accost them; justly thiidving himself, and telling
others, that such a rugged kind of behaviour sometimes terrifies
the enemy more than the sword itself." Doubtless on other
occasions also, the same old Roman character will again and
again have been recalled ; " for with reason," the world-famous
biographer declares, '- everybody admired Cato, Avhcn tlicy saw
others sink under labours, and grow cfi'eminate by pleasures,
and yet beheld him unconquered by either; and that not only
when he was young and desirous of honor, but also when old
and grey-headed, after a consulship and ti'ium[»h ; like some
ftimous victor in the games, persevering in his exercise and
maintaining his character to the very last." — CloiKjh's Plu-
tarch, vol. ii. pp. .317, 321.
As a specimen in this connexion, we give an extract from a
communication to the London Tli/u's,ui 1841, wliicli appended
to it an editorial commendatory of its contents. Mr, llawos
and Mr. Joseph Hume had attempted, in their i)laces in the
House of Commons, to neutrali/e his influence by some ground-
less allegations. '' I am not aware," tho bishop observes,
'• what degree of iniluencc may be exercised i)y ^Ir. ilawes over
public opinion in England ; and I cannot, therefore, estimate
the force of the blow which ho allowed himself to aim at the
character of an absent man. This cannot be said of Mr. 1 lume ;
for, from my knowledge of his public career, I derive the con-
solation that no man's good name is likely to suffer much from
any attack which he may be pleased to make upon it. They
both, however, professed to speak only in reference to a des-
patch which His Excellency the Governor-General [Poulett
Thomson] had written to the Secretary of State for the Colo-
nies, on the 2nd of May, IS-tO, which, with the inclosures it
74
I
M.
t
'111
refoiTcd to, had been published among the Parliamentary docu-
ments. No man on w hose good opinion I should bo inclined
to set much value, would be likely, I think, to have formed his
judgment upon the comments of Mr. Ilawes and Mr. Ilnme,
without referriug to tho correspondence itself; and I am con-
tent to abide by tho judgment which may have been formed
upon a deliberate ''•-onsideration of the correspondence by men
of candid minds, having no desire to destroy my reputation for
political purposes, and having no otlier sinister object in view,"
Upon the reply of the bishop, the Thn^s of the day, manifestly
at the moment in opposition, was pleased to remark, " We have
dwelt on the gross aspersions and bitter malevolence directed
against this respectable gyman, because such injuries are
systematic; because they are characteristic of the unj)rincipled
and shameful warfare carried on by the mend)ers of the execu-
tive government, and by the faction upon whose i)atr()iiage
they hang for support, against the most sacred institution of
the monarchy, the whole frame of the Church of England and
its most blameless functionaries."
As being among the most remarkable of his public efforts,
his extemporaneous Confirmation-addresses ought also to bo
mentioned. Genuinely paternal in tone, and really valuable
as i)ractical guides in the conduct of life, they were vividly
remembered by those who heard them. Ilis strong sympathy
with the young has already been adverted to: liis interest in
their fears, their hopes, their trials, their plans, was hearty and
never- failing. What we once happened casually to witness, in
the case of a young friend about to try his fortunes in a distant
part of the globe, we shall not readily forget, namely, a parting
benediction, given in the primitive way, and unaffectedly
received on bended knee, the suddenness and spontaneity of
the act on both sides rendering the scene a memorable and
touching one. There were not a few vouni; men who were
indebted to him, virtually, for their first introduction in life.
From his remains which may be found in print, from his
Charges and Synodal Addresses, his Letters to public Charac-
ters, his Speeches and Keports, as also from the records of his
acts and works, an exact moral portrait of the iirst Bishop of
\
75
Toronto may, as we can see, be obtained, and will be convoyed
to posterity.
As to the literal presentments of his person, of liia physique
and its expression, that exist on canvas or otlicrwise, the noblest
and the best is that taken in London just after his consecration.
In that portrait the artist has, with the tact of a Sir Thomas
Lawrence, caught and fixed the image of the bishop at a happy
moment, idealizing grandly the whole figure Mith great skill.
The portraits at Trinity College, in the Vc.»trv-rooni of St.
James', and in the Board-room of the Church Society, are all
too realistic to bo pleasing. A water-colour likeness of him m
Archdeacon Strachan, taken many years ago by Iloppner
Meyer, was good, the negligent air of the suri)lice being
especially indicative of character. A later engraving by the
same artist, from a photograph, was not so successful. An oil-
painting by Gush, in the posses;^ion of Dr. Fuller, is somewhat
like, but is not satisfactory. The bust, which is to be seen in
some places, preserves the features, but it is altogether destitute
of the nobleness which an artist would have thrown into a pro-
duction of that kind. As to the numerous photographs, they
arc generally good ; but, as was to bo expected, they reflect
too much of that side of the outward asj)ect which gives the
impression of one — Tmj)i(je)', iracvndun, incxorahilis^ acer.
Beneath them all might be inscribed — •
" In his royrlty of nature
Rcif^ns that which would be feared ; 'tis much ho dared ;
And to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that dotii guide his valour
To act in safety."
One photograph, full length, of cabinet size, liy Carswell, gives
very accurately the figure, somewhat short and firmly built,
but restini; litrhtlv on the ground: the fine countenance, of
anti(pie mould, full <>f serious thought and active intelligence;
the well-balanced head, aiid the hair, whicli extreme age bad
only partially blanched. Many years ago, his head and coun-
tenance bore a considerable resemblance to those of Milton, as
pourtrayed in Faiihorne's well-known picture commonly given
70
i
i
in tlie old edition!?. At sv later period, the current portrait of
I3isliop Jewel conveys some idea of his face.
It U interesting to notice how at early formative periods in
linnian societies in all parts of the world, there haw hern a
development of men peculiarly adapted to their day and
fjeneration. From some points of view, indeed, it might seem
as if the existence of the men created also the occasion of their
becoming eminent ; hut on examining further, it will generally
be found that a variety of antecedent circumstances liad been,
perhaps for a long while, prejjaring a crisis, when the opportune
appearance of a man competent to conceive a happy mode of
cond)ining them, and capable of discerning the happy moment
for doing so, was the means of bringing the crisis to a head ;
and thus a particular name became so intimately associated
with a particular movement, that after-generations would be
inclined to attribute the whole glory of the transaction to the
posses^'r of that name.
Posterity, gratefully and with justice, calls the men thus
rendered eminent, heroes and benefactors. At maTiy another
period there have lived, it is not improbable, men of equal
capacity and force; but the peculiar surroundings that in the
one case made greatness of character conspicuous, have been
wanting in the other. Tn addition to clear heads, high aims
and strong wills, the fortunate few to whom reference has been
made, had spheres of action peculiar to themselves. In the
early civil history of the United States, there is "Washington.
How happily adapted the man to the emergency, atul the
eiriergency to the man! And in the ecclesiastical affairs of
that country, at least so far as that communion is concerned
which would at the outset be the most disorganized by a se])a-
ration from the mother country, how admirably suited to the
occasion \yas Bishop White! Here in our own Canada, when
we turn our regards to its early French day, what figure more
appropriate could present itself to the eye, in the group of its
first occupants, than that of Champlain ? What character
couhl have been better adapted to further and protect the civil
interests of the country as it then was ? While in regard to
Gallicanism, the principal form of religious belief and worship
\
< i
in tlio country ns it tlion was, and the education involved
therein, who could have lieen betttr fitted to mould and guide
aft'fiirs than a Laval^ or, later, a Plcssis?
Then, advancinj^ westward, to the regions first settled and
organized under IJritish influences, who is there that appears
to have been better fitted in mind and spirit to be the founder
and legislator of a new State, the originator of its Institutions
and customs, than John Graves Sinicoc, first Governor of
Upper Canada ? And that the analogy between the two old
Canadian provinces might be complete, ecclesiastically as well
as civilly, a name presents itself in relation to matters con-
nected with Public AVorship and Public Instruction, as contem-
plated in the theory of government then in vogue, that will bo
mentioned in future times with great cmphiisis and respect —
the name of the great bishop whose career we have been
reviewing.
Prought prominently into view by the times in which he
lived, and by the circumstances of the country in which his lot
was cast, he was a(la[)ted in a i>articular manner to those times
and circumstances. Jlad he been of an organization less rigid,
or had he happened to have taken more of the artificial shape
which the conventional culture of old communities is apt to
give : or had he chanced to adopt a principle of puldic action
dill'erent from that which he did adopt, neither his defivats nor
his successes would have been so imj)ressive as they arc. Pos-
terity would not have been forced to notice so pointedly as it
is now, the lesson taught by both — that portion of i)osterity, of
course wo mean, which is immediately concerned with ecclesi-
astical and educational questions in Canada.
Inasmuch as there really were so many things to be said in
favour of the claim of the Anglican Church to " establishment"
in Canada (the Educational claim included), according to the
theory governing the framers of the Imperial Act of 1701, it is
well that there appeared on the scene one who was ready and
able to do battle to the death in behalf of that claim. Had
the Anglican interests in respect to Public AVorship and Public
Education been represented by a man of faint heart or weak
powers at the critical moments, and those interests gone to the
h
n
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78
wall, as under any circumstances they would have done, the
visionary of after-times, looking back over the past of Canada,
would have maintained a never-ending lament. As matters
stand now, posterity (limited as before) accepts the verdict
given after a protracted discussion, with all the more compo-
sure, because an advocate very able and very much in earnest
was heard on that which proved to be the losing side : and the
fact is grasped, that the prevalence or non-prevalence of systems
of Public Worship and Public Education must henceforward
depend, not upon lands, but upon intrinsic desert. In other
words, the Anglican communion has been taught that its real
strength lies in its own historic character and descent ; and
that any peculiar method of training which it may adopt for
the benefit of its youth, must flourish or not, in proportion
solely to the degree of countenance given to it by itself.
Tlie ancient theory was, that the people of a country and
the church of a country are identical. It is a theory tliat sim-
plifies government, when generally acknowledged, and removes
all difficulty in regard to endowments for Public Worship and
Public Instruction. But, except
" In Utopia, subterranean fields,
Or some secreted island, Heaven knows where,"
we are no lonjxer to expect that such a theorv will ever ajjain
be realized in fact. The Refunnation, the Cominonwcaltli, the
Eevolution of 1688, were all admonitions that the details of the
policy of Great Britain must be more and more modified, if the
wants of modern men were to be met and satisfied. The Aboli-
tion of Tests, the Koman Catholic Emancipation, the Tithe
Commutation, the Reform measure of 18.")2, tlic mitigations in
Criminal law, the Reform moas^ure of 18C7 — all point the same
way; to be followed, there ia reason to believe, from time To
time, by many an additional indication to the same eifect. All
this may seem very undesirable to many persons ; all this may
serve only a.> an incentive to zeal for the pre-Reforination
condition of things in Great Britain and Ireland; zeal for tlie
restoration of the constitution in its pristine integrity. But is
it not worth while to consider whether the history of the huaan
ii
79
race justifies a reasonable man in believing that anj coTidltion
of things, at any given time, is the one wlii<*ii must necessarily
be the best adapted to men at all subsequent period* .' It maj
turn out, by-and-bye, that the only principle of government
practicable, even in the mother country, in relation to Public
Worship and Public Instruction, i* tiiat enunciated by Crom-
well himself years ago : " Love all, tf-rider all," cried he to his
Parliament in 1653 ; " cherish and countenance all in all tilings
that are good ; and if the j-'i »rest Christian, the most mistaken
Christian shall desire to live peaceably and quietly under you —
if any shall desire but to lead a life of godliness and honesty,
let him be protected. "^ — Wiltion^s Cromwell and the Protecto-
rate, p. 204. Statesmen are being compelled, by the stubborn-
ness of eveuta, to allow that '* they be two things," as Bacon
Bpoaks, "unity and uniformity." They have discovered that
the enforcement of the latter docs not secure the former ; while
the former may be presumed to exist when the latter is given
np. Some even go so far as to hold that " the sort of variation
resulting from independence and freedom, so far from breaking
the bond, is the best preservation of it." A number of neigh-
bouring families, to use Arcnbishop AV^hately's illustration of
this proposition, living in perfect unity, will be thrown into
discord as soon as you compel them to form one family, and to
observe in things intr'.isically indifferent, the same rules. One,
for instance, likes early hours, and another late ; one likes the
M'indows open, and another shut ; and thus, by being brought
too close together, they are drawn into ill-will, by one being
perpetually forced to give way to another.
From the (hivs of Elizabeth down to the opening of the
Royal Commission recently aj)pointe(l by the present Queen,
there have been occasions prevented when the theory of the
identity of the people of England and of the Anglicaa Church
could have had a wide realization. At the Hampton Court
Conference, the liect(»ring spirit of James '• T. and VI.," was of
course fatal to any such ihcory, although in his blind misread-
ing of the British jieoplc, he supposed such a spirit nitt incom-
patible with it. " Well, doctor, have ycm anything more to
say ? " asked James of one of the dissentients on that occasion,
80
I
after listening to the objections urged. "Xo more, if it please
your Miijesty," was the reply. "Then," said the King, "if
this is all your party hath to say, I will make them conform,
or harrie them out of the land : or else do worse ! " — Southey-s
Booh of the C/nirch, p. 429. There have been, all along, too
many Jameses. In a recent visit to the mother country, we
found men of this type existinaj still, in the lay ranks as well
as in the clerical ; persons, we mean, who seemed to us to mis-
read the real temper of the bulk of their fellow-countrymen ;
and we were led by a study of their doings and writings to the
conviction that the day is near at hand when the theory of
identity between the historic Chuich and the population in the
midst of Aviiich it is placed, will, even in law, be relinquished
there, as it is already in Canada.
The lesson taught to the Anjijlican Church in Canada bv the
local events which Ave have been reviewing, is not yet learnt
in the mother country; but its inculcation is agitating society
there at the present moment. Tlie issue will be, there can be
little doubt, in harmony with tlie issue of other movements in
the direction of civil and religious liberty in the Ihntisli Islands,
resultinij!: iinallv in the very condition of thinc-s which we sec
about us here.
Is it not well that it should b'> f-eon, at home and hero, that
endowments, l^owevei* convenient wiien possessed, are not of
^\^ Gssbiicc df the Anglican Church ? Is it not well that in
some manner the fact should be made plain, that in societies,
ecclesiastical as Avell as civil, individuals cannot be absolved
from the duties of succour and maintenance which they owe
to the body of which they are a part?— duties which become
obscure when the work of succour and maintcmince is for a
series of ages carried on by the inaninuito agency of the
produce of land. In the history of man, there can be little
doubt but that endowments, for one thing, have led succes-
sively to indifference to truth, to a conseipient corruption of
truth, and then to a perpetuation of that corruption.
" Ah ! Constantinc ! to how much ill gave birth,
Not thy conversion, but that plenteous ilowcr
Which the first wealthy Father gained from thee ! "
Dante, Inf., xix.
•sam
Tt-._^
mt
of
in
ed
Dwe
81
We are not vouching for the dower in queatiou ; we merely
adopt the poet's words to give a hint of what we mean. Now,
may not the stri])ping away of such adventitious helps in one
quarter, and the prceariousness which has come over sucli
helps, we may perhaps say, in all quarters, be a premonitory
symptom of the coming day whicli we are hopefu]ly taught to
exj)ect, when Truth, ])urc and simple, will very widely prevail,
by virtue of its own divine, intrinsic nature?
The defeats of the gn at bishop, then, have their moral. At
the same time, tho.'^e de'eacs in no way detract fro'm his repu-
tation. In considering them, we have again and again been
reminded of what IMonjaigne says in a well-known i)assage,
which we arc tempted to give at length, so happily and cha-
racteristically docs ho therein put one or two parallel cases :
"The estimation and value of a man," he says, "consist in
the heart and in the will: there his true honour lives. Yalour
is Etability, not of logs and arms, but of the courage and the
soul. It does not lie in the got dness of our horse, or of our
arms, but in ourselves. lie that falls, firm in his courage, — Si
sucolderit, <le genu 'pxujnat ', " If his legs fail him, fights upon
his knees ; " he wlio, dos})ite the danger of death near at hand,
abates nothintj: of his assurance ; who, dvinj;, does vet dart at
his enemy a fierce and disdainfid look, is overcome, not by us,
but by fortune; he is killed, not conquered; the most valiant
are sometimes the mo.st unfortunate. There are some defeats
more triumphant than victories. Those four sister-victories,
the fairest the sun ever bc'lield, of Salamis, Tlatfea, Mycale anil
Sicily, never o})posed all their united glories to the single glory
of the discoiiititure of King Leonidas and his heroes at the
I'ass of Theruiopyhe, Who ever ran with a more glorious
<lcsire and greater ambition to the winning, than the captain
Ischolas to the cerlaln loss of a bat'le? lie was ordered to
defend a certain ])ass (if i*eloponnesus against the Arcadians,
which, from the natnre of the place and the inequality of forces,
findin<r it utterlv imiK)ssible ftu- him to do, and seeing clearlv
that all who prc:;onte(l themselves to the enemy must certainly
be left upon the place ; and, on the other hand, reputing it
unworthy of his own virtue and magnanimity, and of the
ll'jil
! ;
li'i
m
Lacednomonian name, to fail in his duty, he chose a mean
betwixt these two extremes, after this manner: the youngest
and most active of his men he preserved for the service and
defence of their country, and therefore sent them back ; and
wi'Ji the rest, wlioso loss would be of less consideration, he
resob'ed to make good the pass, and, witli the death of them,
to make the enemy buy their entry as dear as possibly he could.
And so it fell out; for, being presently encompassed on all
sides by the Arcadians, after Ijaving made a great slaughter of
the enoiiiy, lie sni4 tri'>. men M'ere all cut to pieces. Is there any
Iin|tliy rlndi('(if»'d to conquerers which is not much more due to
tht)se wlio wiii'Li till/a nvuri'ome'i The part that true conquer-
hig lias to j)lay lies in the utti'tntiitor, li"t in the coming off;
tllM IlilDmir of valour consists in fighting, ////f |// pubdiiiiig." —
M(mtai\iui\e(l. Iladlft, [}, ]\9i. ^^
Ecpially Instriictive with the dofeafp, are the successes of ttie
first Bishop of Toronto. Their monil, especially for the Com-
munion which he ruled, and for individuals composing it, is
this : llecognize facts ; aim at the practical. Wo need not
describe again the determined way in which he endeavoured
to make good the disasters entailed by the irresistible march of
events. The time loft him was short. lie girded himself with
desperate energy to his work ; and takin|); an entirely new basis
of operations, he realized after all his ideal, on a scale indeed
below what his first conception had pictured, but still on a scale
(it sufticiently good dimensions ; actually creating for himself,
by this second development of force, a spiritual realm over
which, amidst the acclaims of all, ho reigned as the visible
head, and informing genius, to the moment of his decease ; and
tlien, leaving it to his successors, furnished with means and
appliances of his own institution, for self-regulation, self-
support, and self-perpetuation, in all future time.
Moralists who take a morbid view of human life are ready
to exclaim, — AYhat shadows we are and what shadows wo
pursue ! Which may be true of numbers, bur. need not be true
of any, provided only they have been put in possession of sound
minds and sound bodies, and have been disciplined in both
with the discipline provided for them.
83
Such a man as the great Bishop wliose career we have been
studying, is no shadow. Neither are the things wliieh such
men pursue, sliadows. The results of tlie h'fe of the first
Bishop of Toronto are tangible realities. They may be sensibly
participated in by all of the Canadian people that choose, or in
the future shall choose, to avail themselves of them. And he
liimself is a reality. His example, his written and spoken
words, his works and deeds, will together constitute a standard
and type to which, in the fluctuations of the future, there will
be a recurrence. His name will be one of the things which
the generations following will not willingly let die. His spirit
will be still palpably marching on.
lie built the principal church-edifice ai»pcrfaining to his own
coniniiiniou four Mines in succession; twice uh a cathedral
church fur his dh/ccHo ( and on each successive occasion with
IlK'R'Ufloil ((I'dndour and curfUI/io,-!*, "Tv'^s of Learning" wit-
ness for him : lie iuDodcd two Univorsh in succession, both
invested with the character borne by si/cli institutions as origin-
ally instituted, by Royal Cluirtcr, — procured in l)oth instances
by his own pc'rsonal travail ; the later of the two l)y an indi-
viduid and solitary eftbrt, to which it is not easy to find a
parallel, lie saw theiu both in operation, investigating, con-
serving, and propagating truth, on somewhat diiferent lines
indeed, but probably with co-ordinate utility, as things are.
The veiy Park, with its widely-renowned Avenue, the Champs
Elyb<?cs of Toronto, in which the bourgeoit^ic of the place love
to take their pastime, are a provision of his, that property
having boon specially selected by him as President of King's
College, with the same judiciousness and the same careful
prescience (»f the need of amplitude for such purposes v.'hich
guided hiin also in choosing the fine site and grounds of
Trinity College.
The Anglican residue rescued by his prowess in the final
disposition of the endowments for Public Worship, he so wisely
husbanded by a scheme of commutation, that funds which in
due course were intended to be extinguished were transformed
into a permanence, applicable in all time to the aid and main-
tenance of Any-lican interests.
84
To give unity to the action of the Anglican coniniunion in
the furtherance of essential objects, he organized, first, tempora-
rily and tentatively, a working Association aniongits members,
witli a complete machinery for effecting its purpose : — and then,
secondly, as a more comprehensive measure, as a final and
permanent institution, he revived in his own diocese, and
through the example of that, in nearly all colonial dioceses,
tlie assembling of synods; and that too, with representatives
duly chosen from the laity, lie thus inaugurated for the
dependencies of Great Britain, what they had not before, a
constitutional Episcopacy, preventing for the future a pernici-
ous isolation of the clerical order, securing a community of
interest and feeling between congregations and their pastors,
introducing in fact the germ of a healthy, vigorous and con-
sistent life for the Am;;lican communion in Canada.
The chancel-apso that shelters the grave of the first Bishop
of Toronto has acquired a double sacrediiess. St. James's,
Toronto, will be eiupiired for and visited hereafter by one and
another from dillerent parts of this continent and the mother
country, somewhat as certain veneral)le })ile3 are iiupiired for
and visited at St. Albans and Winchester, at Ilheims and
Mayence, for the sake of historic dust therein enshrined.
The originators of sees, the founders of cathedrals and
colleges in Europe, when as yet the British Ilumber and the
Gernum Rhine flowed between banks as si^arinirlv cidtivatcd
as tlioso of the St. Lawrence were fifty years ago, — the Chads,
the Cuthberts, the Aidans, the Winifrieds, — were placed by the
gratitude of a later generation, tinctured by its superstition, on
the roll of the canonized, whatever that may imply. »
It may reasoiuibly be doubted whether as men these person-
ages were exceedingly different from the ever-memorable proto-
bisliop whose career we have traced, or whether as ecclesiastics
their fixity of idea and persistence of purpose surpassed lils.
At a later period, in the days of a Wykeham or a AVaynfiete,
a Cliichelc or a Wheathampstoad, the elllgy of such an one
would, witliout question, have been seen lying in ])er])etual
state in some grand structure of his own foundation, extended
on altar lomb, with cope and mitre and pastoral staff"; palms
«p
85
joiiied as in prayer ; eyes open towards heaven, as in sure con-
fidence of the things hoped for; at his head or feet the
miniature model of church or college upborne by the hands of
jingels.
Such a memorial of the great Canadian Blsliop in the midst
of the people amongst whom he dwelt, is hardly to be expected;
although within the cathedral-church of Canterbury, as wo
ourselves lately beheld, prelates so recently deceased us a
irowley and a Sumner, are on this wise commemorated, with
becoming modifications.
But even without accesrsories of any kind, without the nivs-
tic prefix with wliich the ages of credulity would have markcil
his name; without the symljol ism, sensuous and florid jis of an
unintelligent period, or spiritual and delicate as of an intelli-
gent one, the mortal resting-place of the first Bishop of Toronto
will liave jjower to fascinate the imagination. As though there
burned within it an undying lamp, a steady beam oi" light will
be seen to issue from that sepulchral vault, streaming down
the future of the Anglican Church in Canada, drawing mid
reclaiming, cheering ;uul directing, nutny faltering steo.;.
nUNTED DT W. C. ( UEWETT A CO., KING STRKKT EAST, TOllONTO.
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